Canadians eye homegrown slopes as ski show returns to Ottawa

As skiers and snowboarders wait with bated breath to hit the slopes, the Ottawa Ski and Snowboard Show takes over the EY Centre. CTV’s Josh Marano reports.

There may be no snow on the ground yet, but the Ottawa Ski and Snowboard Travel Show is already drawing big crowds at the EY Centre.

For avid skier Joe Hale, the travel show means the start of the winter season.

“It’s the fall, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and now winter is coming, and ski season is totally part of the Canadian winter,” he says.

Hundreds of people are already planning their winter getaways, but some are choosing to skip the U.S. slopes this year amid continued political tensions.

The show is a chance for resorts across North America to reach visitors eager to plan their next trip to the slopes, but Hale notes there are fewer from the U.S. then in years past.

“There’s some places that aren’t here that usually are here, and there’s places that are here that I’ve never been,” Hale says. “I will go, but not this year.”

While that’s added pressure for some resort operators, not everyone south of the border is worried.

Loon Mountain Resort, based in New Hampshire, was one of a few American resorts at the show on Saturday. The resort says they still saw a similar number of Canadians last winter.

“Last year, Canadian traffic was about the same as normal, this summer we’re a little bit off,” Andrew Noyes of Loon Mountain Resort said.

“So far within the show, everyone’s happy coming to see us and we’re looking forward to having as many Canadians as possible,”

Meanwhile, Canadian resorts say they’re benefiting from the shift in travel habits.

“You hear it today that people are planning to stay in Canada and just support the Canadian businesses that are home to them,” Laura Meggs at Revelstoke Mountain Resort out of British Columbia says.

“It’s going to be an interesting year, I think time will tell sort of how this all plays out, but we’re expecting some pretty big crowds this year,” she adds.

For Hale, he says there’s plenty of resorts and hills to stay close to home, but he hopes to try out some slopes south of the border soon.

“I’ve always wanted to go Loon Mountain. I always go and talk to them, and I’ve never been,” Hale says. “I’m an old man so maybe in a couple of years.”

The Ottawa Ski and Snowboard Travel Show continues through Sunday at the EY Centre on Uplands Drive.

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