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Ryan Megah has never been on a mountain to enjoy a day of skiing or snowboarding.
To prepare for his eventual trek out west for a day on the slopes, Megah saw Saturday’s opening day of Optimist Hill as the perfect opportunity to try his hand at snowboarding.
“It’s my first time ever snowboarding,” he said. “I wanted to get some experience before I go to an actual mountain, because I don’t want to go to a nice mountain and spend the entire day on the bunny hill.”
With temperatures hovering around -25 C, a crowd of roughly a dozen people were on Saskatoon’s latest winter destination for opening day. That’s just how Megah preferred it.
“This is kind of a less intimidating way to get started, which is kind of nice,” Megah said. “There’s a lot less people watching you fall, and it’s a lot less dangerous when you do fall.”
Dealing with low temperatures was second nature to the die-hard snowboarders like John Japzon, who was eager to be one of the first down Optimist Hill for it’s second season of operations.
“It doesn’t really matter if it’s stupid cold. When I found out Saskatoon has it’s own hill and you don’t have to go as far as Table Mountain — to me it doesn’t matter. I haven’t snowboarded in seven months and I’m just really excited,” Japzon said.
Japzon brought along snowboarding newcomer Fenner Raqui from Regina for their first runs down Optimist Hill.
“I’m just looking forward to the experience. The weather doesn’t bother us. I go for a jog every morning, so I’m used to it,” Raqui said ahead of his first lesson from Japzon.
The hill is closing for Monday and Tuesday this week for maintenance and adjustments, but will stay open every day after that through the holiday season.
Between Dec. 21 and Jan. 10, the hill will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., with the exception of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Eve, where there will be modified hours.
Temperatures below -25 C do create some havoc for Optimist Hill.
They close the gates in those situations so before you head out, make sure to check their website.