The 2016-17 ski season will come to a close with the annual aquaneige competition at the Wentworth ski hill on Saturday, April 1 at 1 p.m.
The 2016-17 ski season will come to a close with the annual aquaneige competition at the Wentworth ski hill on Saturday, April 1 at 1 p.m.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. and the event is limited to 75 skiers.
If the weather doesn’t co-operate, the event will be moved to April 2.
“It’s definitely one of our most popular events,” Leslie Wilson of Ski Wentworth said. “We have a lot of skiers who want to participate every year and we have a lot of people who come out to the hill every year to watch. There’s just something about watching others make a splash. The bigger the splash, the more the applause.”
Wilson said the skiers also go above and beyond with costumes including everything from a giant banana to a gorilla suit. Last year, one brave soul even tried to make it across the poll dressed in a Speedo – he got wet.
This year’s event will have an added challenge.
“We’re making the pool a little longer this year,” Wilson said. “It will be at least 20 to 30 feet longer this year to make a bit more challenging.”
Aquaneige will just be one part of the closing weekend at Ski Wentworth. Sunday, April 2 will include the annual Easter egg hunt with participation limited to 100.
One of the other closing events will be this week with fireworks at the end of the day Saturay, March 25, marking the final evening of night skiing.
Overall, Wilson said it was a good season at Ski Wentworth.
While favourable weather in December assisted snow-making, Ski Wentworth enjoyed one of its earliest openings in the middle of the month.
There were more challenges in January and February with inconsistent weather while the teachers’ work-to-rule campaign impacted school trips to the ski hill.
To help with this, Ski Wentworth had buses go to both Truro and Amherst to pick up skiers and Wilson said the buses were well used, especially from Truro. It’s something she said will be considered for next season.
A number of other events, including the provincial high school skiing events, were cancelled by work-to-rule, although things did pick up when that campaign ended.
“We had a very good March break,” she said. “That helps us put an end to what was overall a very decent season.”
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
