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Best Place to Ride in Ontario

  • Talisman

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  • Urban/Homemade Riding Spots (post in thread)

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Regional: Ontario, Canada

5K views 25 replies 8 participants last post by  jyuen 
#1 ·
For everything Ontario!
 
#3 ·
To be honest, I think Blue is overrated. Either that or some of the other hills are underrated. No offence to you die-hard Bluers, but Blue is full of first timers, and is often crowded.

Last year for spring break, I went to Horseshoe. I stayed overnight, and in the morning got first tracks. It was a great atmosphere, and I met some really cool people. Horseshoe is is the "snow belt" so it gets and retains way more snow than Blue. Also it wasnt crowded at all. The prices were amazing and there were NO lift lines. None.

Although it doesnt have as much stuff as Blue, it's still a great place to ride.
 
#4 ·
Tough call because none are really fantastic. I would never recommend someone to come to Ontario specifically for the skiing/snowboarding. That being said, we make do with what we've got...

Blue I find over-rated and crowded, but it does clearly have the best village. If you were looking for a place to go for a full weekend of partying and riding, then Blue is the most suitable. It's also a pain in the ass to drive to.

My preference would be for either Mt. St. Louis Moonstone, or Horseshoe. They're fairly close to each other (you can see one from the summit of the other) and both much easier to get to than Blue. In terms of separating those two:
  • MSLM has a better park and two pipe runs
  • MSLM has more runs
  • MSLM has more lifts, and faster lifts, so you're typically not waiting as long (Horseshoe is alright, but can be a wait at times)
  • Horseshoe has a greater diversity of runs and faces of the hill (MSLM is pretty much come straight down and pick a fork that will still go mostly straight; Horseshoe at least winds through the woods and pitches terrain in more directions)
  • Horseshoe has a better bar/restaurant and chalet facilities (Beavertails!), though MSLM seemingly has better cafeteria food
  • Horseshoe has more "other" activities, like dog sledding, tubing, and cross country

Toss up?

As for where I ride most, I work close to Chicopee, so it's easy and cheap to go there after work when I have the itch. It's just not very much of anything beyond being cheap and close at scant over 200' tall.
 
#5 ·
Personally, I havent ridden ST. Louis. I guess I should go try it out, if the park is any good??

As flat as ON is, we have quite a few pros coming out of Ontario. Lots of great park riders. Sure it's not Fernie or Whistler, but the Ontario boys can sure throw down!
 
#6 ·
Yup, try MSLM. It's only 10-15 minutes farther along the 400 than Horseshoe, and has two terrain parks and two half pipes. Sadly, the Outback (the good parks) might be closed for the season as we're quickly melting away. Lots of really nice features in there.

Parks are one of the few things a small resort can try to do well, since they don't have the vertical for good alpine. Don't need a lot of vertical for a terrain park (unless you want a massive X-Games slopestyle run), and can put a few of them throughout a resort to space out the people. Ontario gots to represent in something eh? :p
 
#11 ·
where are you driving from if blue is closer than mslm? that seems a bit backwards... hmmm... whatever though!

and yeah, as i said in my post, i only chose blue for the cost. i find it repetitive. as for busy, you can usually find a pretty empty lift, but i will require waiting in a couple just to get across the face. meh. all depends. i'm not much of a park rider, so i can't speak for that stuff.
 
#13 ·
I personally hate moguls and Blue seems to have them on every run so I'm not a big fan of many of the Blue hills but the scenery is nice.

Haven't been to talisman in forever but in public school it was a blast.

MSLM was my all time favourite school snowboard trip I've been on so I am for sure going to check it out next year.
 
#14 ·
blue generally only has moguls on about 5% of the runs.. unless you go after a big dump, then they let the snow accumulate wherever it masses... those are just bumps. and i love those! a challenge while hitting them however you choose... jump it, plow through or turn on top...

real moguls are icey mo-fo's and your only choice on a board is to side slip through the ski routes... always fun watching a noob rider go in those... usually attempt to hit the first one as a jump, then eat shit on each successive one. ouch.

as for you vanoot.. yeah, it would be further... an extra half hour at least i'd say.. and you'd be going right by blue, so it would make sense.
 
#15 ·
real moguls are icey mo-fo's and your only choice on a board is to side slip through the ski routes... always fun watching a noob rider go in those... usually attempt to hit the first one as a jump, then eat shit on each successive one. ouch.
That was me at Mt. Tremblant last weekend! Ouch... My ribs hurt after a couple of funny pratfalls (well, not funny to me)
as for you vanoot.. yeah, it would be further... an extra half hour at least i'd say.. and you'd be going right by blue, so it would make sense.
Agreed. For any of us coming from the GTA and barreling up the 400, Horseshoe and MSLM are a much easier drive than winding through all of the small towns and roads it takes to get to Blue. Ugh... Hate that drive. Sadly, they are the last place in the area still open this season...
 
#17 · (Edited)
Yea, I personally like the bump type things too. That's maybe cause im faster than my friends at them ;) All you gotta do is;

1.bend your knees on both edges.
2. and look as far down the hill as you can to pick your line.

Thats what I was told and it really helped. But as tooscoops said, real moguls are a different story.... Icy mo-fo's ahahahah

EDIT: oh yea, also... Blue will probably only have riding until easter weekend (I am guessing. But riding is still apparently good. I might get my last ride in this weekend. Could be staying up at my buddy's condo and going Saturday and Sunday. Might see some of you guys there???
 
#18 ·
I was there this past Saturday and it was icy as hell until about noon before it started to soften up. I was talking to someone who had been there since Thursday and he said the weather had been the best up until Saturday when it got cold out but the snow had been slushy until then so it turned to ice over night.

My friend kept falling and complaining...lamest part was he only would fall at the very bottom of the hill, not gonna lie I had a few good laughs.

Sadly I won't be snowboarding until next season :( so hope you have a good time there.
 
#19 ·
moonstone is my favourite... but i ride blue mountain because of the 5x7
 
#20 ·
The 5x7 is a damn good deal. Just go twice during the week (Family Day, something over March Break, or ditch a day of work :cheeky4:), and one night session and it's pretty much paid for (assuming you bought it at the early bird price). Still hate that drive though...

What would be really great is if the main resorts in the area all got together for a joint pass. Will never happen since they're al owned by different resort operators, but a man can dream (and that's a sad dream... a better dream would be to have Alberta/BC or hell, even Quebec sized mountains).

My friend kept falling and complaining...lamest part was he only would fall at the very bottom of the hill, not gonna lie I had a few good laughs.
Lapse in concentration at the end of a run/tired legs. :p Happens to us all. And yes, it's always funny to watch when it's not you.
EDIT: oh yea, also... Blue will probably only have riding until easter weekend (I am guessing. But riding is still apparently good. I might get my last ride in this weekend. Could be staying up at my buddy's condo and going Saturday and Sunday. Might see some of you guys there???
I went out to Tremblant last weekend thinking that would be my last day for the season, but I didn't have a good day up there, so the itch for one more good day riding is still there. Might go to Blue on Sunday, just hope the weather holds and some decent snow remains.
 
#21 ·
i heard that this weekend will be in the 20's with a humidity index bringing it close to 30... i'd say, if it stays open till then, could be interesting... riding in shorts.

anywho. hope all your seasons were spectacular.
 
#22 ·
i heard that this weekend will be in the 20's with a humidity index bringing it close to 30... i'd say, if it stays open till then, could be interesting... riding in shorts.
Blue is pretty much the last Ontario resort open and have stated they will be open through the 5th. Hours are changing though and they will run from 7:30 AM to 3 PM to try and get the best parts of the day (the still cold/cool mornings), and lift tickets are down to $29.

Snowpants and a few light layers in the morning, then switching to a t-shirt or windbreaker in the afternoon!
 
#23 ·
Fantastic way to end the season today at Blue! 27 C, surprisingly good snow conditions on the main couple of runs, and a decent size crowd of clearly die-hard skiers and riders (no or extremely few gapers!) made for a great day out. Pretty much the only fault was the sole chair lift breaking down for about 1.5 hours in the morning, but they at least stayed open longer than planned. Of course, the delay was long enough that a lot of people did the death march and hiked up the run once... That was tiring... :)

Was really interesting to see so many people riding in bikinis, shorts, yoga pants, tshirts, etc., especially in Ontario! Was well worth the drive and then $29 lift ticket. I can only hope the runs can be salvaged for anyone going the rest of the weekend.
 
#26 ·
blue for the cheap 5x7 and the fenced off park with it's own lift. this makes a huge difference as first timers don't venture into the park, destroy jumps and injure themselves. i've never seen a line up for the lifts at the park, which is where I usually go. the lines at all the other lifts are just way too long.

I like mslm too but I can never wake up early enough to go there...
 
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