Chicopee Ski & Summer Resort

 

On Sunday, Daniel and I went to Chicopee Ski and Summer Resort in Kitchener, (about an hour and a half southwest of Toronto). Like I’ve said before, Daniel and I like to pick a different activity each month that we wouldn’t normally do. They don’t necessarily have to be something active, but it just turns out that way. We actually settled on Chicopee because Daniel did his bachelor degree 15 minutes away and it’s fairly close to home. Skiing is one of those things that I wish I did more often, but time never seems to permit.

The Weather

The weather was perfect for skiing, (-12⁰C/10⁰F). There hasn’t been a huge snowfall recently so there wasn’t any fresh powder, but the hills were still in great condition. Daniel and I both over-layered which worked to our detriment during the day, but to our benefit at night when the sun went down.

Parking

The parking lot was virtually empty which came in handy since I had to take some layers off in the car as the weather warmed up. My only complaint about parking is that there weren’t any lines to define the spots, so you just have to park accordingly. It wasn’t a huge deal on Sunday since it wasn’t crazy busy, but I could imagine it would be a problem on a holiday or something like that. Parking was also free which is always nice.

Lift Tickets/Rentals

This area is where costs can add up when you’re skiing/snowboarding. An all access lift ticket, (which gets you access to all lifts, runs and terrain park), was $70+tax for the two of us, and rentals were only $66+tax for the two of us! Amazing! At different hills that we’ve been to, a full ski rental tends to cost more since there’s more pieces to rent relative to a full snowboard rental. The efficiency of the rental shop was great as well! The employees were super friendly and even helped me strap my boots up when they saw I was having a little trouble.

The Hill Itself

I guess there are a few aspects to this portion of the post, so I’ll start with the individual runs. There are 12 runs (if you include the terrain park), so it’s a fairly moderate sized hill. The green circle hills seemed to be geared towards families with younger children and there weren’t very many of these hills. For that reason, I’d say that Chicopee is probably for skiers of intermediate-advanced ability.

Each run was relatively wide, however there was one in particular that I found to be pretty narrow despite it being next to trees and also being a black diamond. That being said, it was probably my favourite since it has a fairly steep drop in the beginning and then merges with a blue square.

This run was the narrow one that I was talking about. Still a blast though!

This run was my favourite…I loved being able to weave around the chairlift.

Grub

The chalet/cafeteria area is actually really quant! There’s a little terrace that you can enjoy hot/cold beverages on which gets a really nice view of the hill. The menu is mainly hot dogs/burgers/fries…that kind of thing, however there is a restaurant with a full-fledge menu and alcoholic beverages. I got the poutine and a Cherry Slush Puppy, and Daniel got chicken fingers, a burger, and chilli. All were pretty good.

Overall, I had a great time. Affordable, food tastes good, and close to home! Win, win, win! Thanks Chicopee for a great time! We’ll definitely be back.