Slalom into Spring : Calabogie, Pakenham

Calabogie Peaks, Municipality of Greater Madawaska, Ontario.

By MAGGIE M, Editor, the wedge.LIVE

“As you climb on the chairlift in Sunshine (Banff, Alberta) a sign in the snow reads, ‘Welcome to British Columbia’,” I shared with a wide-eyed, young downhill skier while running errands today. I love to see the puzzled expression. “You cross the provincial border on the chair,” I explained.

On this first day of Spring, the last thing many of you want to read about is more snow; but, some of us cling to unfulfilled desires.

To think I went through this winter without pulling my parabolics out of storage is just criminal. Under an hour from Ottawa, Calabogie Ski Resort, features the highest vertical drop in Ontario. I should be wearing a boot alright.

Wait! Spring skiing is in full swing at Calabogie their site announces–through Easter and perhaps longer. There is still time for me to get a full pardon.

It would nice to ski without icicles dangling from my nose.

Mount Pakenham, Municipality of Mississippi Mills, Ontario.

If I don’t make it there, Mount Pakenham, packs a whole lot of fun–especially for the whole family. They offer tubing on the hills too. The village of Pakenham is so charming it makes a complete getaway.

“I got off the chair on one ski smoothly,” I continued with my captivated listener. (The other ski fell off.) That tends to earn me a good jaw-drop. The story is unimpressive to initiates, until they are told I was a beginner just trained on the tow-rope. That was many moons ago.

I am beyond the green circle into the blue square zone now, where many of us stay stuck year after year. Never a black diamond shall I be. But what pleasure it is to meander down the hills, alone with the wind and the sky as far as you can see.