Dryden, Ont. skiers, snowboarders 'ecstatic' over renewed access to downhill runs

For the first time in more than 10 years, skiers and snowboarders in Dryden, Ont., can properly access all parts of their local ski area.

The Dryden Ski Club has gotten the OK from the Technical Standards and Safety Authority to re-start one of four tow-rope lifts at the ski area. The lift, which had been out of commission for years, allows people to access the Senior Hill an area where the more challenging runs are located.

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"A bunch of the kids were out there already on the hill," Derek Bailey, the ski club's president said, adding that they started the lift back up on Saturday. "It's really good, especially for the more experienced kids or the teenagers."

"It introduces a lot more varied terrain, it's much more challenging terrain for them; I would say ... if you can ski on our Senior Hill, then you can ... ski pretty much anywhere in North America."

The lift was shuttered in 2004, Bailey said, when the volunteer-run, not-for-profit club was doing work on the lift and "we ran afoul of the TSSA." Bailey who wasn't with the club at the time said he believes the issues were around the submission of paperwork and proper communication with safety officials.

"[The TSSA] required us to re-do the paperwork effectively and an engineer would have to do that," he said, adding that, over time, the issue "fell off the table as something we could chase feasibly," as costs mounted and club executive members changed.

The tow-ropes are essential to the ski area's operation, Bailey said, as they're the only method skiers can use to get up the mountain; the hill doesn't have chair lifts.

A major reason for the lift re-starting, Bailey added, was the personal support both financially and in terms of securing the proper professionals of Dryden mayor Greg Wilson. He addedthe club's volunteers have also been working hard to get the now-accessible runs properly groomed.

So far, the feedback has been positive, Bailey said.

"I know I have a 12-year-old and he was ecstatic."