Ottawa Ski Club - the Gatineau Valley Historical Society

YEAR BOOK 1951-52 13
THE SEASON OF 1950-51
by· J.S.P.
•
Although skiing did not start until
Sunday, December 17 and the snowfall
was a few inche~ less than the
previous year, there is no doubt that
it was a more normal season. We did
not have a s•now famine for weeks
on end, or the erratic changes in temperature
which almost drove skiers
mad the winter of 1949-50.
It was what M'l". Baker, our weatherman,
calls an "ea.sy" winter. The
temperature seldom went ·below zero.
There was one cold s-pell-Saturday,
February 10 the mercury dropped to
34 below, but by Sunday afternoon it
reached zero. Unfortunately, Sunday,
February 18, when the Canadian
Championship Jumping took place,
saw the densest fog that ever hov:ered
over the Gatineau Hills.
No month could be ·singled out aSI
being ideal. We had some grand days
here and there from December, to
April. Sprinkled in between were day.~
when the skiing was passable -to
quite good. As a perus-al of my diary
will show, to those of us who take
the good with the bad, the winter of
1[150-51, while not .spectacular, had
plenty to offer in the way of skiing.
SKI DIARY, 1950-51
Sunday, Dec. 17 (+25•): Overcast,
later turning to snow. An early start
with Mac and Harmon. Chided Anne
M.cLaughlin and Maxine Shifsky for
walking carrying .skis. Canyon very
good·, but a few rocks uncovered. Bill
Brennan has decorated Christmas tree
in -front of each fireplace. Grace
Steven back on s-kis .after long siege
in hospital. The President, Mrs. Marshall,
Vera Elliott and Burgess sis•
ters severely lampooned for hiking
on foot. M-arg P•hillips (Glebe teacher)
deplores lack of spartan spirit of
modern ·collegians, who refuse to .go
to Fortune unless they can borr