Making skiing more accessible/ Ode to Martock NS

VT_scratchI mean dude how are you skiing deep pow days without a fat ski lol (in reference to chirping chets and JJ's). BC is expensive as fuck. The people who live here have money, and the people who recreate here are either bumming it on a budget and making it work because they love it (eg every young person who moves to whistler) or they make good money.

LemuelHot take, but skiing can be accessible by buying leftover / used gear and hitting up your local no name small hill like some of you are talking about. It may even be fair to say that skiing is too accessible based on the crowds are your typical resort mountain.


I would love to see small rope tow hills pop up. Went down to one in Starksborough a couple winters ago and everyone was having a blast. People forget that not all experiences have to be luxurious or have the latest tech.

peacepileAll it takes is water, air, pressure, and temps to make snow. Something a handful of homies could pull off. But then insurance and legality of things comes into play. Still doable and I’m hoping to see this sort of shift too.

skiP.E.I.Everyone used to ski pow on 80-90 mm 'all mountain' skis and twintips with no rocker and it was great. Before that people skiied pow on straight skis. For sure it takes better technique, and it's harder to smear, butter and throw your skis sideways but it's absolutely doable and still far better than not skiing powder. Fat, rockered skis are great, but their main purpose is to make people want multiple pairs of skis, giving folks a reason to buy skis mainly for deep snow.

VT_scratchOf course. But my comment is more in line with “so what are you skiing on op…”

there are so many pow skis now and the used market is big out here. It’s not wild for people to be skiing on pow skis at Whistler.

skiP.E.I.Snow making is a ton of work. Has to be monitored 24/7, and any time it has to be shut down, all the hoses have to be brought inside. It also requires an abundant and steady water source, and as you alluded to, permits to use the water.

hi_vis360NOVA SCOTIA MENTIONED I grew up skiing wentworth, these New England and Quebec kids will never know the true meaning of ice coast

I had a similar experience when I skied out west for a couple seasons. The skiing is obviously better but the vibes and cost are I think worse. Part of that can’t be changed, places like snowbird and whistler are luxury resorts by design. There is so much infrastructure that they have to charge a lot for skiing. That will never change, so just enjoy the dope skiing while you can.

I moved back east and have really dedicated myself to supporting small cheap ski hills. People see the huge lines at resorts and say “skiing has never been so popular!” But the reality is that many of those people waiting in line used to ski at smaller hills and have moved to big resorts because of ikon and epic. Lots of the small hills I ski at are struggling and need the business. I love not waiting in lines ever but I still tell everyone I know to come check it out because I want small hills like Martock to succeed because their business model doesn’t rely so much on the wealthy like big resorts do. It’s all about giving people a place to rip it up after school or on the weekends, not vacationers and condos. My advice is to keep supporting small hills and encourage them to invest in parks, because without good terrain and snowfall that is the only way they will ever compete with big resorts.

ParkingLotPissSkiing is fucking expensive.
its not as bad once you get into it but because now I'm only buying one or two pieces of gear per season and also I know love it so its a lot easier to justify cashing out for a seasons pass.

I grew up skiing Martock in Nova Scotia (600ft and 5 runs, pretty descent park) and Martock fucking rules. you could buy a season pass in the summer for the coming season and it would only be like $140 (I'm sure its more now). Every fall they would do a ski swap were people would come to sell/trade used gear. they would also sell some of their old rental gear every season for dirt cheap, I'm talking $10 ski boots, $30 skis + bindings. so it meant that for under $200 you get gear and a pass, that's how much it cost for a day a lots of hills. Also the repair should would do minor fixes (broken buckles, filling gashing in your bases) for free.

I moved out to BC for school and I can afford to keep skiing but its way snobbier out hear. such a large percentage of people who skis have loaded parents to fund it and people are so obsessed with their gear. If i had a penny for every person who has head to toe arcteryx gear (and either Bent 110s or JJ 116s) i could maybe buy an arcteryx jacket.


I'm beyond grateful to have grown up on the east cost because neither of my parents ski and had it not been so cheap they probably would have never let my brother (who is a snowboarder) get so into it.

anyway it grinds my gear how its challenging it is to start skiing unless your blessed with well-off parents.

What are some other ways you guys have seen resorts, business or other make it more accessible?

disappointmettThere are some initiatives around Calgary, where I'm from, to start reducing barriers to access for disadvantaged communities.

OURS is one of them that is trying to build community events and get donations to build a public, free rails park and ski hill.

I'm doing a community event this year at Lake Louise that will be a low barrier rail jam/charity event with entry being a donation to an outreach program.

If your area doesn't have something like this try connecting and advocating at your local hill to try and reduce the barriers.

ParkingLotPissTried looking it up but didn't find anything. does OURS have a website?