Gatineau Park
A History of The Ottawa Ski Club
By Herbert Marshall
Original document 
16 MB
Slalom Hill
With kind permission of the author, the late Arthur S. Bourinot, a pioneer member of the Ottawa Ski Club, this poem is reproduced from his book "This Green Earth."
This is the slalom hill
pennants of yellow and red
flutter and startle the snow
where skiers flow
in rapid, rhythmic turns
about the poles.
Swift prows of far-off ships
the skis cloud their track
and the sneer of the snow
curls in a misty wake
where they veer and tack
zig-zag, flag to flag,
then the final plunge,
the ultimate lunge,
to the edge of the crowd below.
The tow of rope,
festooned with festive sweaters,
slacks and snoods,
drags its slow length up the slope
through the woods
disgorging its load at the top,
the eternal circle
of life itself,
turning, turning,
as it goes,
the steady flow,
all day long.
Of festive youth,
thronging, thronging,
up and down,
up and down,
thronging, thronging,
they never stop;
nothing is ever still
on the slalom hill.
Acknowledgements
The generous assistance given by many in the preparation of this History is gratefully acknowledged. Many have assisted the author in its production: reading and commenting on it in whole or in part, and in supplying relevant data. Mr. A.T. Paton edited most of the original manuscript. Special thanks are due to John Pringle Taylor who performed the laborious task of compiling the lists of trophy winners from 1920 to 1972 appearing in Appendix “B” and data for National and International Achievement from 1966 to 1972 in Appendix “A”.
Mrs. Ramplee-Smith and Don Bohart assisted in the task of preparation for the printer and in supervising production.
The Illustrations have been collected over a long period of time. In many cases the source is not now known. Several have been borrowed from the National Ski Museum. Some of the latter were obtained by the Ski Museum from the Public Archives and three were got directly from the same source. Several came from the Smialowskis’ collection. Other sources included the Mary Falconer collection, Dr. Bill Ball, The Lockebergs, John Clifford, Jim Patrick and J.C. Leslie. All contributors are most gratefully thanked.
Preface
One of the happiest experiences of my life has been a long participation in the development of the Ottawa Ski Club. Contributing something to the growth of a Club which has provided health-giving sport to hundreds and now thousands of members was eminently worth while besides giving much personal enjoyment. There was the camaraderie of the skiing fraternity and the opportunity to become familiar with scores of square miles of the fascinating Gatineau Hills — so full of nature’s treasures to be all a winter is a good friend! For the skier its reign each year is too short.
The growth of the Ottawa Ski Club from small beginnings to its present stature is a fascinating success story in the realm of sport and one which deserves to be told. Many influenced will try to show. As one studies the pattern of life in the Hull-Ottawa area in that period when the Club was born and compares it with the present, the extent of the changes is seen to be staggering. Some of them have profoundly influenced the Club’s development. Among them was transportation.
In the beginning of the century the motor age was commencing. However, before it could make rapid progress something had to be done about roads and the motor car had to be produced in a price range low enough for mass consumption. The first motor car was built in Canada in 1893. Mass production was instituted in Canada by the Ford Motor Company in 1904 but it was not until after World War I that popular demand increased radically. In 1907 there were only 1530 cars in Ontario. In August 1919, an advertisement for Ford products listed Runabouts at $664, Touring cars $690, Coupes $975, and Sedans $1175, FOB Ford, Ontario. The Journal of July, 1919, advertised the Page, Dodge, Dort, Overland, McLaughlin and Maxwell.
The Ottawa Journal issued a Coronation Souvenir number in June, 1953, entitled “The Ottawa Story Through 150 Years" prepared by Mr. Harry J. Walker. For the year 1900 he wrote:
The new century was introducing the motor age in its first years.... This was the beginning of the end of the horse and buggy days, the fringe topped carriages, the plain plebian democrat and the hitching posts that lined the dusty (or muddy) streets. According to the Free Press of September 11th, the first auto introduced to a pop-eyed Sparks street was an electric Stanhope buggy driven by Mrs. Ahearn... In 1908, three men decided to motor to Toronto one day in June to attend a lacrosse match between Ottawa Capitals and the Tecumsehs. Accordingly, Messrs A.H. Currie, Johnny Powers and Alf Smith got into their ‘Dusters’ and climbed into Currie’s four cylinder ‘Touring Packard’. It took them to Toronto in the ‘fast’ time of three days. Toll gates were met every few miles and the toll costs exceeded the cost of gasoline.
The state of the roads at that time was a formidable obstacle to motor traffic. Roads were mostly under the jurisdiction of local governments and the municipalities and the local units gave private organizations the right to levy tolls and erect gates where they could collect them. These companies were, in turn, charged with the responsibility of keeping the roads in good repair. There was widespread disinclination on the part of the holders of the toll rights to spend anything on the roads they could avoid. The common method to dump sand or gravel loosely on parts which had become more or less impassible.
These toll roads were numerous throughout Ontario. In every direction leading out of Ottawa the owners of vehicles were confronted with a toll gate. In the earliest issues of the Ottawa Ski Club News the Ironsides (Quebec) Toll Gate is mentioned a number of times. One on the Mine road is also mentioned. Though there had been many complaints about the very bad condition of roads before the advent of the motor car, its coming aroused a storm of protests. Motorists banded together to improve matters. In 1907 the Ottawa Valley Motor Car Association was formed. These Associations sought protection also against the ‘traps’ which were sometimes erected by people in the country whose horses did not take kindly to the ‘iron monster’ and sometimes reacted violently and dangerously when a car approached.
After World War I the agitations for the removal of the toll roads reached a crescendo. The Ottawa Journal of September 27th, 1919, had this item:
The people of Ottawa have done considerable talking about the toll roads — Can the Capital still continue to be shut in from the outside world by a surrounding chain of gates? Without doubt there are many Ottawa citizens who would arrange to motor to outlying farms in order to buy produce but for the fact that the toll charge spoils all attempts to beat the high cost of living. Farmers as well as local citizens should see that the toll roads are hindering the progress and expansion. Why should Ottawa continue to suffer the hindrance, inconvenience and annoyance of the toll-gate 'hold-up'?
In 1919, Carleton County undertook to expropriate the toll roads. The Merivale Road, Richmond Road, Montreal Road, Hawthorne Road, Metcalfe Road and Bowesville Toll Road were all affected by this decision. On May 13th, 1920, the Journal announced that, at last, Ontario was to be freed of toll roads by decision of the Provincial Government. It was the passing of an era which had lasted for almost 100 years. By 1926 the last toll gate in Ontario had disappeared.
The rising number of motor cars had made road improvement a national necessity and, since the smaller governments could not finance the creation of an adequate system, the provinces had to undertake a large part of the burden and establish departments of highways.
We have travelled far from the horse and buggy days. The internal combustion engine has driven the horse from our streets and largely from the rural scene. The motor boat has made canoeing and rowing hazardous pastimes and its roar shatters the former tranquility of our lakes. The skidoo, if uncontrolled, would drive the touring skier from the winter trails. But motorized transport and good roads have given a quick and easy access to the ski grounds and have been a potent factor in the growth of our fascinating winter sport.