Earl Bales to get new lift in 2012
[attach]4635[/attach]You don’t want to be left hanging when you’re about to take to the slopes.
But that has happened to some who ventured out to the ski and snowboard centre at Earl Bales Park last winter.
Constructed in 1971, the park’s chair lift has begun to experience reliability issues, including once when skiers had to be evacuated from the lift after it stalled and couldn’t get started again.
In July, the city hired a consultant and allocated $2.2 million to design the necessary renovations, which should begin construction next spring.
On the to-do list is improving the ski area’s lighting, putting in a new or modernized chair lift, cosmetic renovations to the chalet, and the addition of a small maintenance shed for snow machines.
The plan is primarily intended to save money over the long run, as opposed to addressing a major safety concern.
“There’s an aspect of risk associated with an evacuation,” says the facility’s supervisor Jeff Carmichael. “They’re high enough where certainly a fall can result in serious injuries.”
Because the new lift won’t be in place for this winter’s ski season the old lift will have to last another year. However, Ward 10 councillor James Pasternak isn’t concerned.
“We can do repairs and keep the lift safe, but sometimes the repairs exceed the cost of replacement,” he says.
The original chair lift was purchased used from another ski centre, a possibility Carmichael says the city hasn’t ruled out.
“We’ll look at all alternatives,” he says.
Earl Bales Park is the only city park that offers skiing and snowboarding apart from Centennial Park at Eglinton Avenue West and Renforth Drive.
Open from mid-December to March, the ski and snowboard centre provides an opportunity for experienced and beginners alike, who can take lessons.
“It’s hard to find that kind of slope within city limits, the steepness, the grade and the wide open spaces for parking and a chalet,” says Pasternak.
“It’s just very hard to get all those important ingredients together on one site, but Earl Bales is it and it’s extremely popular.”
Pasternak himself used to do a lot of the downhill sport, although he hasn’t recently, he says.
All the talk of renewal seems to be affecting him, though.
“But you know what, I probably should go out and do some skiing.”