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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-02-06, Page 171 6 N r1 0 V Crossroad s the weekly bonus is your Listowel Banner, Magian) Advance - Times And Mount Forest Confe- derate Is read by 33,W people In the "heartland of Midwestern Ontario". (Based on 3.5 readers in each of 9,500 homes.) Published every week in The Listowel Banner, The Wingham Advance -Times and The Mount Forest Confederate by Wenger Bros. Limited. —Crossroads—February 6, 1975 -- ON TOW — The 750; foot electric tow lift can take up to 10 people a minute, Minto Glen proprietor, David Howes says. Feature and photos by ehege Mbitiru ON TRAIL — The 97 -acre Minto Glen is criss-crossed by trails for cross-country buffs. Along the trails are open • ,arbecue pits. However, Kim Moody of Mount Forest is con- tent just to zoom for awhile when waiting to get on the tow lift. TRY AGAIN — Michelle Davis of Grimsby gets help from her father, Richard Davis, as she tries to get back on her skis after a fail. Kids have more nerve, says Mrs. Norman 3 (Lynn) Schmeler, skiing instructor for Conestoga College. However, she adds, anyone can learn how to ski PREPARATIONS — A couple gets ready to go downhill out- side the Minto Glen Lodge. His fun in the Forties ...T ci business in the Seventies nv I u ..ON 1 1 5T -- Minto Glen has trails for snowmobiles. However, the resort owner, David Howes, says he is de-emphasizing snowmobiling and that snowmobiles are not allowed while skiing is going on. Seen is a service snowmobile going past skier on one of the six bush slopes. They call it* Minto Glen Ski Club. The connotation is that itis a private club. It isn't. It's a busi- ness. Blue and white billboards pro- , claim: Ski Minto Glen. They are catchy and people apparently be- lieve them. The owner, David Ilowes of Harriston, says people come from as far as London, Kit- chener, Sarnia- and the United States to ski at Minto Glen. When I visited the _.club, the name of which Mr. Howes is con- templating changing to Minto Glen Sports Centre, little Mich- elle Davis of Grimsby, near Hamilton, was getting lessons from her father. She wasn't falling down very. much - only once every time she stood up, but not shedding tear. "Skiing is safe if learned step by step," says Mrs. Norman (Lynn) Schmeler of Harriston and the skiing instructor for the Conestoga College, Harriston centre. "It is a great sport," says Miss Chris Boley, tenth grade pupil at Mount Forest & District High School and founder of its ski club. "I wish more people around here would participate." Minto Glen is located on Con- cession 6, Minto Township, six miles from Harriston, four of' them on Highway 89 towards Mount Forest, and two of them PANORAMA — The open slope and the undulating hills dotted with widing trails at the 97 -acre Minto Glen Ski Club is visible from the warm-up room on the second floor of the lodge. Unlike most ski lodges which are located at the bottom of the slope, the one at Minto Glen is at the top and provides a splendid view of the surrounding countryside. along Wellington County Road No. 2. Actually, the Wellington Road doesn't go as far as the •Minto Glen. No one need worry about that, though: All one has to do is keep on going, straight, past a stop sign. About a mile on the left hand side of the road is the Minto Glen Lodge. It isn't of a particularly at- tractive architecture. At least not from the outside. And it isn't likely to bring back memories of chalet -like skiing lodgesthat nestle beneath Alpine peaks on post cards sent from Switzerland. But then, . the 20 x 40 ft. two-storey rectangular building was never meant to be. In fact,its location is unusual. Most ski lodges are • at the bottom of the skiing slope. Minto Glen Lodge is at the top. The ground floor of the building is purely a business affair, en- hanced, though, with a massive stone fireplace in one end. A counter -runs all the way along the first floor. Here one buys tow lift tickets, $2 for those under 12 years, $2.50 for those over 12 years and $40 for the season. Rental equipment is also available here at $2.50 for wood skis, $3.50 for metal skis, $1 for boots and fifty cents for the poles. For good measure, there is a rental deposit. One part of the counter also serves as a snack bar, selling cold and warm drinks. At one end of the first -floor room are lockers and a washroom. A metal spiral staircase leads to a warm-up room upstairs. Once' there, the ugly exterior of the lodge and the commerciality of the first floor disappear. The benches and pews are rather beaten but the walls are pannelled with polished pine slabs with bark along the edges. "It's ' very unique," says Mr. Howes. It's beautiful, anyway. At the western end is a fireplace, smaller than the one downstairs, but it's a fireplace any housewife would envy. The northern wall of the entire floor is mostly of glass. Through the windows one gets the view of the entire 1,500 -foot slope and the undulating hills all around. They are dotted with trees and winding paths. It is, in all, a pleasant view. The beauty of the slope is en- hanced by lack of any human physical addition. The top of the two -lift power house at the bot- tom of the slope is barely visible. The 750 -foot two-stage electric lift is hidden by a row of trees. As Mr. Howes says, "My wife and I, indeed the whole family, are con- servationists." Visually, there are few human - made structures that are visible from the only side of the lodge with windows. Mr. Howes recently talked about the origin of what has now become a skiing resort with six bush slopes and one open slope, in addition to cross-country and snowmobile trails: "In a way it started thirty years ago," he observed. - At that time he and some friends from the then Harriston High School, "which no longer exists", formed a club and called it Treitis Ski Club. After the first winter, Mr. Howes decided to build a cabin there and was doing so when his parents went to see what he was doing. "They liked the farm and bought it," he said. But the club petered out and 10 years ago "four local fellows" rented the place and started a club which they called the Minto Glen Ski Club. As Mr. Howes described the process, "Eventually the family grew up and we bought the tow from them and built the lodge." That was three years ago. And there wasn't much 'snow during the first year. There was a little bit more last year and Mr. Howes hopes there will be more this year. In addition, several sur- rounding townships are contem- plating running a summer pro- gram there. "I have four boys and a girl and they are all skiers," Mr. Howes said. "And between them, my wife Shirley and little help, we run it as a family operation." The result is open between 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday. The open slope is flood -lit for night skiing and, therefore, is open between 7130 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Saturdays. "We used to be open on Wed- nesday and Friday evenings but there weren't many people coming," Mr. Howes says. However, he adds, the resort will open for any group as long as he can sell a minimum of 20 tow tickets. That minimum also applies for special rate tickets to individual groups. As with any resorts, different people use the 97 -acre resort, most of it woodland, in a varied manner. Some noisily, sdme maliciously, some haphazardly and some systematically. The noisy group includes snow- mobilers. The club sells, services . and rents snowmobiles and has fuel and storage facilities. There are snowmobile trails on the farm. "We are, however, de-empha- sizing snowrlobile$," Mr.-HoWes says. In fact snowmobiles are not allowed when skiing is going on, except the service one, owned by the club. The, malicious group includes poachers., Mr. Howe says he doesn't mind people just walking around on the farm. "But if I find anyone hunting, he will be prose- cuted," he adds. And it will be the same with anyone found there with a fishing pole. Someone, Mr. Howes re- calls, dynamited the stream to get trout. The haphazard group is ,not really haphazard, not on a personal level. This group in- cludes the ski buffs: couples and families who head for the resort with their equipment or rent some there and have fun. "We have had families come here," Mr. Howes says. "The kids go Alpine skiing (down the slopes) •while the parents go cross-country." There are open barbecue pits along the cross-country skiing routes that can be used for cooking. "And cross-country people do enjoy that," says Mr. Howes. There is also a cottage, he adds, which doesn't go with the rental, Mr. Howes says. "It's extra." The systematic groups in the immediate vicinity include Con- estoga College, Harriston centre, which operates a skiing course at Minto Glen; the Mount Forest District High School Ski Club; and the towns of Harriston and Palmerston which jointly, with Mr. Howes, provide a bus to Minto Glen every Saturday. The Mount Forest & District High School this year plans to send physical education classes there. Andy Clow, who's in charge of the Conestoga College, Harriston centre, says the college got in- volved in running a ski program after a casual conversation. "We put an ad in the paper and the response was, good," he said. This will be the third year since the course started. About 40 people, Mr. Clow says, have en- rolled. However, only 27 have paid the $8 fee for the scheduled eight one-hour lessons. • here are three separate classes held on Saturdays. Mrs. es.%Treler)is the instructor for the beginners and says that some of those who participated last year are back and "some have advanced to the extent that 1 can't 4each thAn anything." Mr. Clow says that the college is planning an advanced course and is looking for an instru'tor. Governmental legislation stipu- lates the qualifications for in- structors, among other aspects of skiing, The Mount Forest District High School Ski Club was started this year by Miss Boley and has about 20 members, most of whom, she says, hack some skiing back- ground. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Boley, Mount Forest; ski and she. uses her mother's equip- ment. Most of those who joined the club either own their equip- ment or "are planning on getting it," Miss Boley says. Her reason for starting the club? "Well," she said. "I think skiing is a great sport and I would like to see more people enjoy it." Miss Boley concedes that cost affected the number that en- rolled. "Skiing is becoming pretty expensive." Interest was another. "There aren't many people who ski around here." And once the club was formed, "transportation is another prob- lem," she says. Last winter Miss Boley took Conestoga College courses.. at Minto Glen, eight of the 10 scheduled, which weren't com- pleted because of poor snow conditions. The Mount Forrest District High School program is an ex- tension of .the physical education program, says Harland Lichti, a physical education instructor. It will involve five classes and about 12yupils. They will go to the Minto Glen for downhill ski- ing in five separate groups each at a time on a Friday afternoon. Taking students there more often than that, Mr. Lichti says, would interrupt classes. Nonetheless, Mr. Lichti says, it's hoped that the pupils will de- velop an interest in skiing. Downhill skiing is preceded by cross-country skiing, which the school provides regularly. Recreation committees in both Harriston and Palmerston, joint- ly with Mr. Howes, provide a bus service to Minto Glen. Skiing is not a part of their recreational program, though. • In fact, none of the surrounding municipalities have skiing as a part of their recreation pro- grams. Don Towne, Listowel recrea- tion director, says there used to be a group there that did some skiing. That was about two years ago, but it didn't do so under the auspices of the town's recreation department. "We are willing to help," he says, "but we don't create pro- grams just for the sake of it. I haven't had people come asking for help." Please turn to Page 2