Thanks to donations from various groups and businesses, the Hart Highlands Ski Hill will once again welcome snowboarders and skiers this season.
All that's required now is a little snow.
For at least the past three decades, the not-for-profit ski facility had received funding from the provincial government in the form of a community gaming grant. Last year, according to Hart Highlands Ski Hill manager Mike Gareau, the grant was about $20,000 - cash that helped cover a significant portion of the hill's operating budget of about $130,000.
But, this past spring, Gareau found out that because of changes to the gaming grant formulas, the hill - which falls into the government's "sport" category - wouldn't be eligible for funding in the 2015-16 season.
"They kept insisting that we have to have (an organized) program," said Gareau, who mentioned the Nancy Greene Ski League as an example. "Well, we just don't have a program. We do ski lessons but it's not a program.
"Unfortunately, they just don't have a (gaming grant) section for facilities. So we were told after two years of trying that we just didn't meet the criteria and we wouldn't be able to go for funding, so we didn't apply."
Once word of the ski hill's plight got out into the community, a support network quickly formed.
"People have come up and offered their services or expertise," Gareau said.
Also, several businesses and groups stepped up to help. One of them was Brandt Tractor, which donated $5,000. Another was One Boardshop, which held a fundraiser on Oct. 24. That event - which included a snowboarding video premiere and raffles of boards and gear donated by suppliers - attracted a large crowd to UNBC's Canfor Theatre and raised a total of $3,762.10. Last week, One Boardshop managers Brenda Sande and Guy Buskermolen presented a cheque in that amount to Gareau.
Sande said the idea for the fundraiser came from Langley's Scott Fierbach, who handles marketing for One Boardshop.
"(Fierbach) was in town and we were sitting down and having a meeting," Sande said. "It just came up because my kids use the ski hill lots. I was like, 'It would be super-fun to do something out at the ski hill because they lost their gaming funding and maybe we could bring them some extra business out there.' And Scott said, 'Why don't we do a fundraiser? We'll do a video premiere, we'll sell tickets and then give them all the money.'"
Gareau called the donation by One Boardshop "fantastic" and said he "never expected it."
Gareau noted that other organizations have also joined the cause. They include the International Union of Operating Engineers, Canfor and Wajax - which have donated parts and other necessary items - and Jepson Petroleum, which is donating fuel for the ski hill's grooming machine. Gareau pegs the price of the fuel at about $3,000.
"I can't say enough about the support we've had," said Gareau, who has been the hill's manager since 1985.
"We're making an affordable recreation for the people of Prince George and it's by these donations and whatnot that we can keep all our prices down. And all the volunteer labour that we get, it helps keep the price down. It gets you and your kids out. You get involved in skiing and snowboarding and you move on to the bigger (hills)."
The Hart Highlands Ski Hill first opened in 1968. These days, Gareau said it is run by about a half-dozen "hardcore" volunteers and by the facility's members.
"We have about 170 families or so that have memberships and part of the obligation to getting a family membership is you have to do a little adult supervision during the season," he said. "It's only two times in the season that you have to go and stand at the top of the hill and do a little policing. We've got a good number of volunteers so we can spread the workload around."
As for the future of the facility - which also serves as training ground for the city's up-and-coming alpine racers and is the home hill for the Caledonia Adaptive Skiers - Gareau said he's hopeful a gaming grant will be back in place for next season.
"About a month after we were told (we didn't qualify for funding), or even a little longer, a new manager was put in place for gaming and he talked to me directly and he said that he was going to try and get us some funding through another one of the sections but there was no guarantee," Gareau said.
"They're trying to redeem themselves a little bit and I appreciate it."
