Mount St. Louis Moonstone facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mount St. Louis Moonstone |
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| Location | Moonstone, Ontario, Canada |
| Nearest city | Barrie |
| Coordinates | 44°37′36″N 79°40′07″W / 44.62667°N 79.66861°W |
| Vertical | 168 m (550 ft) |
| Top elevation | 382 m (1,252 ft) |
| Base elevation | 229 m (751 ft) |
| Skiable area | 75 ha (185 acres) |
| Runs | 40 35% – Easiest 50% – More Difficult 15% – Most Difficult |
| Longest run | 1,609 m (5,280 ft) |
| Lift system | 13 (3 detachable sixies, 1 detachable quad, 2 quads, 2 triples, 1 double, 3 magic carpets) |
| Lift capacity | 23,600 per hour |
| Snowfall | 3 m (120 in) |
| Snowmaking | 100% |
| Night skiing | Yes |
| Website | Mount St. Louis Moonstone |
Mount St. Louis Moonstone is a popular ski resort in southern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of Barrie, making it easy to reach from Toronto. Many skiers from the Toronto area visit this resort because it's only about an hour's drive away. Even though the ski hill isn't huge, it has been greatly improved over the years. It now has 13 ski lifts, including three fast six-person lifts!
Contents
The Story of Mount St. Louis Moonstone
How It All Began
The story of Mount St. Louis Moonstone starts with Josl Huter. He was a talented skier from Austria who even competed in national championships. In 1956, he moved to Toronto, Canada.
Josl Huter found his way back to the ski world soon after. He helped out as a ski instructor at a resort near Huntsville, Ontario. Later, he taught at Muskoka Sands Resort.
In 1963, Josl and his wife bought land near Barrie. They started clearing trails for a new ski resort that December. By May 1964, bulldozers helped clear more land. Two long T-bar lifts were added that fall.
Opening Day and Early Challenges
Mount St. Louis first opened its doors on December 16, 1964. But the weather was not on their side! All the snow melted just four days later. To keep the resort open, local high school students helped. They carried snow from the nearby forest and dumped it onto the trails.
This problem with melting snow happened often. To fix it, the first snowmaking system was installed in 1966. This allowed them to make their own snow!
Growing Bigger and Better
The ski hill quickly grew in the following years. More ski runs were added in 1967 and 1968. In 1969, Canada's first triple chairlift was installed here. New trails came in 1971, and a new double chairlift followed in 1972.
During the 1970s, new resorts opened near Collingwood, Ontario. These resorts had taller hills, which attracted some skiers away. Josl Huter decided to make Mount St. Louis taller too. In 1978, they started moving a lot of dirt to raise the top of the hill. By 1979, they had moved enough dirt to make the hill 168 meters (550 feet) tall, which is its height today.
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Joining Forces with Moonstone
At the same time, another ski hill called Moonstone was growing nearby. In 1983, Moonstone installed Canada's first quad chairlift. This was a big deal!
In 1984, Josl Huter bought Moonstone. He then started moving even more dirt to make Moonstone's hill taller, just like he did with Mount St. Louis.
The next year, the old T-bars at Mount St. Louis were replaced with a new quad chairlift. This made the combined Mount St. Louis Moonstone resort have the most uphill capacity in Ontario at that time. Moonstone's height was increased again.
In 1989, Mount St. Louis got even bigger with more dirt added. A fast quad chairlift was installed to replace an older triple lift. Another big expansion happened in 1996. More dirt was added to Moonstone, and one of its quad lifts was replaced with a super-fast six-person lift. In 2007, another high-speed six-person lift was added to Mount St. Louis.
Skiing Under the Stars
In the summer of 2013, something new was added: lights! This meant that for the first time, skiers could enjoy night skiing on some trails starting the next season. It's a fun way to experience the slopes after dark!
