JOY ON THE SNOW HILLS - Recreational Skiing

With resentment due to uncleaned roads and slippery sidewalks, during winter many of us are waking up to the memory of a long time ago and some places, located somewhere far away from the city drabness, where cold and snow were the basic conditions for joy.

My winter idyll had icicles with iced laces and frosted fingers in wool gloves. Sweaty heads smoked from the vapour. The screams and laughter of my ski buddies were heard, and the smell of wood burning in the oven was mixed with the smell of Russian tea from the kitchen. Memories of the Mladostski lodge, where I started skiing 50 years ago, are still alive today. My skis from that time could be an exhibit at any ski museum. Fortunately, the paradise in which I learned my first ski movements still exists and is still called Rajska dolina [Paradise Valley]. It is located on Jahorina, a mountain that was and still is a place to be enjoyed equally in summer and winter.

With experience and growing up, the list of places where I enjoyed to ski grew: from Jahorina, over Kopaonik, Brezovica, through the Slovenian and Austrian Alps, all the way to eastern Canada and America. Allthese places had and have several common denominators and reasons to spend winter days skiing there. The beauty of the mountains, good company and enjoying the sport are all equally important, and if luck is on your side with the weather bringing blue skies and sunshine - the feeling is almost indescribable.

Over the course of my 50 years of skiing, the equipment has changed too. My first skis were made of wood, with a metal edge fastened to the skis with a screw and at lengths that I could reach only with my hand raised high; ski bindings were with a cable, and the boots, of course, were with laces. There are also pants, jackets, sweaters, hats, and gloves (thank you Mom and Grandma for knowing how to knit). Today, when I go skiing, I feel like an astronaut. The skis are geometrically shaped, the edges are blended into the skis, the bindings respond to everything, more or less predictable movements, I secretly put battery-powered heaters in my lovely boots, and the fabrics of which jackets, pants, shirts and balaclavas are sewn - I don't even know the origin. Yes, yes, BALACLAVAS, you read it right. No more ski caps, now there are ski helmets, and that's how we got to the astronauts.

It’s not known exactly when skiing first appeared, but it is known that since the 18th century, skis have been used by the Swedish army.

As a sport and part of the Olympic family, skiing has existed since 1924, when the Nordic disciplines (cross country) were introduced. Since 1936, alpine skiing has become part of the Olympic competitions. From the former slalom and downhill events to the present, many new ski disciplines have emerged, as well as snowboarding. Of course, everyone from my generation still has ski jumps in mind, which we didn't miss watching on TV, especially the New Year's Four Hills Tournament. Watching the professionals and enjoying seeing their skills was an additional impetus for us not to miss a chance to skiin any winter.

There are numerous ski resorts around Toronto. Even with all the flaws, which we will undoubtedly find with each one, it’s much better to enjoy what’s available to us. In Canada, skiing, which is a very expensive hobby, became available to most recreational skiers from the former Yugoslavia.

Back in 2000, I was part of the Belgrade Ski Team, which had about forty members. We spent unforgettable days skiing at Mont-Tremblant in Quebec. Somehow around the same time, Alexander Gusev from Toronto began organizing skiing for parents and children at ski resorts across Canada and the US. In March 2011, he managed to bring about 1,000 skiers of all ages and skiing skills to a week of skiing on North Creek near Mount Gore.

We spoke with Alexander Gusev, a long-time large-group ski organizer who is known to any Torontonian interested in skiing. We were curious to hear about what changed since the first ski group he organized 18 years ago to now, and who goes skiing with his groups today.

Alexander Gusev: “For the first couple of years, newcomers to Canada and their children went. After 2010, new immigrants arrived from our area and discovered this way of going to the mountains. In the meantime, the children of the newcomers grew up and went skiing without their parents. And so that their parents would not feel forgotten, they, now as grandparents, signed up for skiing, to which they took their grandchildren to enjoy nature, snow, sports, and socializing together. And along the way, they also preserve or learn the Serbian language."

http://www.skijanje.ca

There are many ski resorts to choose from in Canada: from the east, where the mountains are relatively low (Mont Sainte-Anne, Le Massif, Mont-Tremblant, Blue Mountain) to the west, where the true pearls are Canadian ski terrains (Lake Louise, Whistler). Since skiing is not cheap, Canada is pushing for many initiatives to encourage children to do this type of recreation. Canadian 4th and 5th graders can get an annual ski pass from $29.95 and ski for free for three days at over 150 different ski resorts.

https://www.skicanada.org/grade-4-5-snowpass/