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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - OCTOBER 2014
S
NOW AND SNOW
sports: un-
doubtedly what people associate
with Canada, and rightly so.
Canada has become known for
some of the best ski hills in the world,
and a suitable place for learning to ski
or snowboard for many generations.
In Ontario, it can be a challenge to get
onto the slopes with the province’s
increasingly warmer winters. How-
ever, one hill this year celebrates its
50
th year serving the ski community:
Mount St. Louis Moonstone.
Nestled in the Georgian Bay re-
gion of Southern Ontario, Mount St.
Louis Moonstone welcomes thousands
of skiers and snowboarders to its runs
every year. It is one of the largest fam-
ily owned ski resorts in Ontario and
features 36 slopes, 9 chairlifts and three
carpets. It is a family friendly resort
with lots to offer regardless of skill
level.
Josl Huter founded the resort in
1963.
It was on December 16, 1964 that
Mount St. Louis officially opened for
business. Timing for weather wasn’t
great however, and four days after
opening the snow melted. Huter had
helpers come to the resort to manu-
ally bring snow onto
the hill and once the
snow flew again in
early January, Mount
St. Louis became one
of the only places you
could ski in Ontario.
It was from this time
that Huter’s dream
of running a successful ski resort flour-
ished.
Today, the Huter family still owns
and operates the successful resort. “My
father saw the potential of this hill in
a time where there weren’t a lot of ski
hills in existence in Ontario,” Robert
Huter, current general manager and
son of Josl explains.
There were no chairlifts when
the resort was first
built. “It was a mod-
est operation and the
expectations from
skiers wasn’t high. So
this was a great time
to open the resort:
the ski industry was
growing faster than
ski resorts could keep up demand so
there was lots of business potential,”
Huter continues.
THE RESORT GROWS
As it is for all winter sports, ev-
erything depends on the weather.
While the first few days were a rocky
start with milder weather for Mount
St. Louis, the hill was lucky to have
snow until the middle of April—snow
only fell in the Medonte area—so ski-
ers felt lucky to have Mount St. Louis.
The first snowmaking system
at Mount St. Louis was installed in
1966
with one line, one compressor
and one pump covering one trail the
Yodler. More snowmaking equipment
was added in 1967 and more runs
