Abandoned Manitoba 2: The Lost Ski Hill 

As an avid skier who learned 65 years ago at small hills, I have a soft spot for forgotten hills and the little ski areas where so many people got their love of the sport. Thanks for this!

I drove in from Saskatchewan and skied Asessippi Ski Area at Inglis, Manitoba between Russell and Roblin many times.

So much history at LaRiviere/Holiday Mountain.So nice to see Holiday making a comeback. Well done.

This host is fantastic. Loving the content. Very under the radar and severely underrated. Keep up the great work!

What a wonderful video on the old hills. I had just posted a video on the last 2 years under new management yesterday and to my delight see this today!! My Dad was hired in the mid 50's to take skiers from the Barcley House ( hotel) at La Riviere with his team of horses to the slopes. I worked for the Later family from 1978-1992 at the new location that relocated in the 59/60 Ski season. Several of my children worked there in the early 2000....3 generations for the same family. Great Memories!! On a final note I remember one of the hills was called Baldy as it was wide slope with no trees at all on to

My Grandfather made this trip many times. I still have two pair of his old skis.

Much love from here in Winnipeg!

This was awesome to watch! My dad used to get on the train in Morden, to go skiing. He did break his leg on one excursion - they put on a splint & he had to wait on the train til it went back! My dad and I were part of the Cdn Ski Patrol System at Holiday Mtn in the 1970s - lots of fun!

Thank you, this was informative

Mount Agassiz on Riding Mtn is a good ski hill to talk about too

This was a great video! Please do the other lost ski hills l.

Great video! An important piece of Canadian skiing history that deserves to be remembered.

Gord, I'm a former student - these videos are fantastic. I really enjoy them, thank you for the information. I am excited to see your next video where you take it to the streets again!

Very cool! I thought you were going to talk about the hill by McCreary. When you mentioned La Riviere, I figured you were trolling as there is a very active hill there. This story cut back and forth like a great fresh powder run! Thank you.

That was a lot of work. Thanks.

Used to beat ski hill outside of Brandon called Glenorky , where I learned to ski. Minnidosa had a pretty good hill and then there was Mt. Agassi near McReary. I’ve skied at Larevier a few times back in the 70-80s. Sorry about my misspelling of the hills.

Bravo!

I grew up in Winnipeg but mostly skied cross country. My friends that alpine skied said the best place to alpine ski in Manitoba was Banff.

If this were Europe, they would construct a new resort town, install a chair lift and build an electrified rail line with daily rail service to/from the city (easy to do). How much we could do if we could only bring back the trains and service the rural areas, just like in Europe and Japan to break the distances and make it easier for people to get around and build up the local economy, while helping people get back into sports year round and/or access natural areas of our province.

very interesting!

My experience with this area is much more recent but I have hiked lots in that area including where the old hill was. I love it there, it’s a really beautiful part of our province and I find it’s history fascinating. Thank you for this video❤

Good to see you making videos again. Can you do one about Minnedosa power station #2?

Nice to get to know more about my home province!

Great video, I had a short time in Winnipeg, I taught my kids how to ski at Stony mountain and Spring Hill. Loved every minute of it. Only played golf at Holiday Mountain.

Thank you this is an amazing video! ❤❤

Great video! I think skiing is an amazing sport. I learned to ski at Holiday Mountain in the 70's and still ski today, annual trips to Whistler. If it wasn't for Holiday Mountain, Mount Agassiz, Winnipeg Ski Club on the Red River in Riverview and Spring Hill I wouldn't have been able to pursue my passion. It ain't what you ski, it's how you ski it.

Wow! What a great video about a piece of history that I was totally unaware of. Thanks.

KOOL. Thanks for sharing. I often thought that Manitoba might have a ski hill. ⛷️⛷️⛷️⛷️⛷️⛷️⛷️👍

Wow amazing poem, what a way to cap of the end of a truly great story. Thank you for the educational videos, I look forward to watching more.

I learned to ski first at Holiday Mtn, by brother skied at Mt Glenorky just west of Brandon in Grand Valley and also at Mt Agassiz at RMNP, two more lost ski hills sadly!

Very interesting video. Manitoba has a some nice skiing at Russels (Ski Asessippi) and Minnedosa (Ski Valley). I hope these ski hills will remain operational for the leisure of Manitobains.

I loved this… who would have thought… thx for sharing.😊

Very cool..I love the history of my prairies..

I went here a couple times when I was younger.

How about another ski hill that disappeared sometime in the 1980's Snow Valley near Carman . It was a beautiful little place to ski .

I skiid a lot at Mt. Agassiz 40-50 years ago.

A long time ago as a Boy Scout, we used to camp at LaRiviere right near the ski slope.

I am 69 years old and skied at Lariviere in my 20s

Cool.

With advances in Nordic skiing equipment and training it would be excellent for this sport. The question is always about accessibility to the land for a proper trail system.

40 seconds in and YES PLEASE! Liked and subbed!

love to learn about this stuff,

And being in Manitoba, it is indeed a “hill”. Good for kids.

Wonderful! My friend and I were just talking about this. We work at a restaurant that overlooks the tracks by Omand’s Creek - whenever we spot a train we go watch. She mentioned she had just learned of this and we talked about how we wished we could take the train to go skiing! And how cool was it that you catch the train at Portage ave and Academy. Was it the Omand’s Creek line or the one that used to have the Prairie Dog Central that crossed next to the St James bridge? Also great job on the pronunciation. My dad is from the area and I was confused when I first learned to read and saw the name of the town - ‘Dad, why does it say La Rivière? It thought it was called Lare-i-veer.’

This was a joy to watch!

What about Mt Agassiz, in Riding Mtn Nat Park? Entrance through East Gate near McCreary. Please do a similar short about 5hat. It was an actual mountain and lots of fun!

My neighbour and I would drive out to LaRiviere in the 60's. There was a chalet, lift, rentals, and food. I am not making this up.

I entered a Mountain Bike race on Holiday Mountain in 1996, it was surprisingly brutal.

Great video. Not sure if your pronunciation of La Rivière is correct however

At first I thought this was going to be about the abandoned Leary Ski Hill near Carman.

There's a ski hill with a lift at beautiful Minnedosa, Manitoba.

Fantastic! Thank you for sharing this. By contemporary standards, would this site make for a good ski resort? I'm in British Columbia and I would love Whistler to get rail service so motorists don't need to brave the Sea-to-Sky Highway. There's actually tracks nearby Whistler and as far as a holiday goes, driving can be an aggravating chore. Could you foresee a ski resort at this location in the future with hotels and a rail service?

Part 2: Surfing in Saskatchewan.

Manitoba - not "One of the Lost Ski Hills" but "The Lost Ski Hill". You can see the lost ski hill for a good hour before you have to stop to get gas to get to it. Manitoba.

According to the poem there was a tow rope to take people up the hill

The train wouldn't "reverse" there was a "wye" at La Riviere so they would have at least turned the engine/tender on the wye and probably "ran around" the train on the side track.

When did the ski slope close??

In Manitoba we don't ski hills, we ski holes. Most are valleys down to rivers.

I truly feel like the powers that be actively suppress content like this. Manitoba is a wildly corrupt province, likely beyond even Quebec. Manitoba along with Canada as a whole is truly foreign owned and controlled. Videos like this are a glimpse into the past and what could have been. If only

I live 20 minutes from La Riviere. This ski hill, called Holiday Mountain, is very much alive and thriving. I'm not sure why this is depicted as being dead and lost.

I'm pretty sure it's not pronounced laraveer. Le Riviere. Say it will me: Le Riv ee air. (as an English person). Le Riv ee ay (as a French Person) some "historian".

you need to discover how to pronounce the name of the town . nobody does what you do it .