Sir Sam’s Ski Resort – Day 3 can be found here.
Not quite so early this morning – we’d learned our lesson after arriving before open the day before, so we bumped everything back by 15 minutes. That meant a more-human wakeup time of 7:15 am, but still a far cry from the 8 am that my wife and I prefer.
We’ve hit our stride at this point – as is typical for our last day in any given place – and so we were at the hill just in time for it to open. It was bright and clear today, but quite cold – minus 15 Celsius or 5 Farenehit – so it was quiet on the hill when it opened, despite it being Friday. Better still, they opened Eagle’s View right off the start so we had a full five runs open to us.
A small part of me had hoped that they would open the Far Side of the hill, but it was not meant to be. Rumour has it that it will open tomorrow – which makes sense as it’ll be the start of the weekend. Alas, our plan of avoiding the crowds by skiing midweek has foiled us yet again, as was the case previously when we visited Le Massif only to miss the opening of the top-to-bottom run by a single day.
But it’s all too easy to focus on what’s missing from any given trip instead of enjoying the trip before us, so instead we carved our way down some beautiful powder whilst enjoying the view of Eagle Lake in the distance.
We only lasted a little more than an hour, but it was well worth it.
We might not get to enjoy the fruits of these labours, but it’s pretty to look at
We headed back to our rental for our first non-chalet lunch of the trip – a wonderful feast of bacon and eggs – and gave the kids a brief reprieve before we launched ourselves into our final activity of the trip:
Dogsledding.
We were off to Winterdance, a Haliburton-based dogsledding company founded by Tanya McCready and Hank DeBruin – who twice ran the Iditarod 1,000 mile race as well as the 1,000 mile Yukon Quests.
The chalet acts as both a gift shop and a miniature museum to Hank and Tanya’s adventures
I won’t lie. The price of a two-hour dogsledding trip was eye-watering, particularly after paying the modest cost of skiing at Sir Sam’s for the past two and a half days. It worked out to CAD$1,400 for the four of us with all taxes and fees included.
Counterpoint – how often do you get the chance to go dogsledding? So we booked it.
And I’m very, very glad that we did.
I must admit, it felt as though we didn’t get off to the best of starts. First, the parking lot was full – though we were able to find a spot slightly further down the road. Then there was a huge group leaving immediately before our 2:30 pm group, which is odd because they don’t technically have a 2 pm timeslot.
Most likely it was a private group of some sort, though I was concerned whether we’d make our window. I asked at the desk, and was reassured that the dogs would be heading out shortly and we’d be leaving on our adventure on time. And to my surprise – he was right.
Shortly after the other group left, we were led outside and given a run-down on the basics of dogsledding.
Hank runs us through the fundamentals
The main gist was that – if we thought of ourselves as passengers on this journey – we were sorely mistaken. We would be ‘dog six’ – responsible for pushing off when it was time to go ‘ahead’, and braking when it was time to ‘whoa’.
We’d also be pushing up hills when needed – either with one foot, skateboard style, or both if needed. Oh, and we were reminded of the reason why most dogs were taken outdoors, and cautioned that we would need to brake quickly if we noticed one of our dogs taking care of business.
We were otherwise stepped through a few other safety pointers, and then we had the chance to meet our dogs. Another blunt fact of dogsledding – huskies are not the most pleasant smelling of creatures. But they are absolutely adorable, and we relished the chance to hold onto them and pet them while the crew continued to kit out our sleds.
There were only four sleds in total going out as part of the 2:30 pm group – and we were two of them – so the process didn’t take long. Within 30 minutes of heading outside, we were underway.
And it was incredible.
There are times when you’re trying something for the first time, and you realize that those memories will be forever etched into your brain. That was dogsledding for me. It was at once exhilerating, challenging, and breathtaking.
And exhausting. If I’d any idea how difficult it was going to be, I would have skipped our morning ski run. Instead, I added insult to injury – or more aptly, additional injury to existing injury – as I careened across the Haliburton countryside.
In terms of what first-timers should be aware of, I’d say be prepared to stop regularly, and be careful that you don’t overshoot your mark to the point where your dogs are tangled up around the ankles of the person driving the sled in front of you. Pay close attention to the initial briefing, and dress warmly – most of the other participants were wearing ‘city coats’, as opposed to our well-worn (but toasty) ski wear and helmets. (Though they do have glove and boot warmers available for purchase.)
There were a few near misses, and a few close calls but overall we made that journey like the explorers of old, and felt like heroes by the time we careened back into camp. (Albeit earlier than expected – apparently the recent thaw-and-freeze cycle had left the trail the fastest it’d been in over a year.)
Despite our late departure, we returned right on time. We helped water the dogs, and then bid adieu to this strange, new realm – though not for long, I expect, as our daughter has already announced her intent to undertake a half-day dogsledding trip upon our return.
And shall we return? That’s a difficult question. We’re already booked on an ambitious array of travel over the next coming year, and yet we thoroughly enjoyed our time at Sir Sam’s. It was both adventurous and relaxing, which is a really difficult mix to pull off.
And in case it bears repeating – the dogs are adorable
So we are looking at booking a return trip next year.
But would we travel over the same window? And would we stay at the same rental? Both tough decisions, and not ones that we’ll be making today.
Instead, we gathered up our gift bags – including maple syrup, a husky magnet, and digital copies of the owners’ books – and headed back to our rental for our last night near Sir Sam’s.
On the way, I managed to slip on the ice and almost keyed my own car. The bruise, too, I expect shall be quite remarkable. But perhaps I’ll learn not to let my guard down.
Then it was time to head back to our rental for a delicious dinner of beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and green beans and to engage in our very favourite of travel activities – scheming about where we’ll stay next.
Continue reading Sir Sam’s Ski Resort – Day 5.