Calabogie Peaks

The weather is getting colder and that means it's going to start snowing soon. When there is snow, ski season is right around the corner!!

My family and I have been skiing at Calabogie Peaks www.calabogie.com/pages/winter-fun.php for the past few years. Before we had kids we religiously skied at Mont Ste Marie and granted we had a great time there. Now with two kids, we wanted to ski at a smaller hill and found Calabogie Peaks "fit the bill".

This is an awesome hill to start your child skiing because they have a magic carpet ski lift on the beginner hill. The magic carpet lift is like a conveyor belt that you step onto and it slides you up the hill. It is the least threatening type of ski lift out there and is key to teaching your child to ski without frightening them or straining your back. Because of the easiness of the magic carpet, we were able to start our children skiing a lot earlier, our daughter was 2 years old and our son was 17 months.          

Calabogie Peaks also has an excellent snow school program. I highly recommend that if your children are beginners, register them for the "ski wees" program - it's taught on the magic carpet hill. Both of our kids have been through "ski wees" and we found it taught them the basics of downhill skiing but also taught them to be independent skiers -  like how to use the magic carpet by themselves, how to put your skis on and how to take them off - all things that make life easier for parents on the hill.

Calabogie Peaks also has a great recreational racing program too - its called "Snow Stars". Our 6 year old daughter is in the "Snow Star" racing program and had a blast in it last year. We are hoping to introduce our 4 year old son to downhill ski racing too, we just have to see if he can keep up with the 6 year olds.

There is a competitive racing program for older children, I've heard good things about it but unfortunately I'm not too familiar with it.

Don't despair adults about skiing at a smaller hill, Calabogie Peaks is surprisingly challenging and has lots of different hills to ski on. There is also a great bar in the main lodge that we tend to hang out in for lunch and a for few apres ski drinks.  They also provide live music on Saturdays, which is entertaining for kids and adults.

For accommodations, there are lots of chalets to rent in the area or you can always stay at the hotel right next door http://www.calabogie.com/pages/resort-accommodations.php.  However, Calabogie Peaks is close enough to Ottawa, that you can drive up for the day (about an hours drive).

If you are planning on skiing at Calabogie Peaks this year, don't wait to buy your season pass - they have a sale on now until October 31st.

Check out some video I took of our kids skiing at Calabogie Peaks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-osMg-T6cc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=815KiVI_zs4&feature=related.