Father and daughter aim to conquer Sask. ski hills

With a goal of experiencing 11 lift serviced skil hills in Saskatchewan in 11 days, Greg Scott and his daughter Hali arrived in Prince Albert on Wednesday and headed straight to Little Red River Park.

After walking into the small warm up cabin, the pair from British Columbia appeared instantly impressed. Scott told paNOW they had done quite a bit of research before coming to the province.

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“It’s just beautiful. I love this lodge that we’re sitting in,” he said. “Little Red came up on our radar of being a place we had to make sure we included in our story.”

So far in Saskatchewan, they have made a number of stops, including Blackstrap and Table Mountain, and in the coming days, they will travel to Wapiti, Duck Mountain and Ochapowace.

Earlier this year, they completed 39 ski hills in Alberta, and last year, travelled to 44 slopes in their own home province.

All of their adventures have been shared on their social media page and includes a story from a local enthusiast. Scott explained that each ski hill has its own flavour and special features. He also noted the incredible people he’s met along the way.

“All the way from farmers that never have even skied but have been running a ski hill for their entire life just for their community, to die-hard racers. It’s just a wonderful group of people.”

The venture started about three years ago, and was first based on a desire to spend more time with each other, but has also helped raise money for local causes, including the children’s hospital in Winnipeg and cleaning up the ocean in Victoria.

“Over time, our story kinda got out a little bit, and we encouraged others to do their own passion projects,” Scott said.

Greg Scott and Hali Scott Smith skiing downhill

Greg Scott follows his daughter down the hill (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW)

The Tidbits of Change Foundation has snowballed this idea into a little bit of a movement of kids doing something in collaboration with a parent or mentor. There are also bursaries available for inspiring project stories.

Hali, who has been on skis since she was about two, said she loves the quality time she is getting to spend with her dad. She added that as young people leave their homes and start making and forging their own lives, they spend less and less time with the people they grew up with.

“And then you couple that with the fact we get to explore, but in Canada, and see all these small towns and places, I would never have gone to otherwise, and get to ski a whole bunch, which we both really love.  All of that makes for a pretty great pairing,” she said.

Greg and Hali talk with Barry Wilcox. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW)

Barry Wilcox was there on Wednesday to greet Greg and Hali. Wilcox, a longtime user of the hill, helped with its development. He said the extra coverage the area is getting is fantastic.

“Little Red is really a hidden jewel, like not that many people know about it. We produce some seriously good racers out of here. We now have a freestyle program and snowboarding is big out here. It’s a place to go that’s accessible and affordable, and the city is so lucky to have this facility.”

Wilcox explained the hill at Little Red dates back to 1939 and is where he learned to ski when he was eight years old. Since then, there have been a number of improvements, including the addition of about 35 or 40 feet to the top of the hill, which was done in conjunction with the Kinsman Club and SaskPolytech (formerly SIAST), as part of their heavy equipment training program.

“I coached a lot of kids, and now the kids that I coached are coming back, and they’re coaching. I’ve made lifelong friendships out here as well.”