Five days of winter in Algoma – Day one

As a skier there is no better way to start the day then to the rumble of the snow groomer outside your window and a landscape where the hard edges of the day before have been gently rounded by a layer of overnight fresh.

Add to this the 30 cm of snow that fell in the last 24 hours prior, and the anticipation starts boiling over.

I am getting ahead of myself. Where is this winter wonderland you ask?

We are at Searchmont Resort, located in the community of the same name nestled into the rugged Canadian Shield landscape of the Goulais River Valley, about an hour north east of Sault Ste. Marie.

With a vertical of 700 feet / 228 metres, Searchmont can trade vertical stats jabs with the best in Ontario but what you will find here that you won’t at any other ski resort in the province is that prolific lake effect snow making machine known as Lake Superior, that regularly pounds these slopes with winter storms to the tune of 132 inches (336 cm) annual snow fall on average.

We are in the Algoma region for a five-day sampling of the area’s winter adventure potential and first thing on the agenda is just outside the door; so as they say in the good time manual, Let’s Get This Party Started, welcome to the day in the life of Searchmont, first timer.

- Martin Lortz

Read the full article about skiing in Searchmont.