I worked here part time for 2 years.
The money made was enough to cover gas, instructor uniform ($350.00) and gear, with some left for a brew with the boys afterward a hard day in the office.
Here's the "Office"
Camp Fortune is a family ski and snowboard resort, conveniently located only 15 minutes from downtown Ottawa in Canada's Capital Region.
There are three separate areas for skiing at Camp Fortune:
- Skyline, where a quad lift services 1 intermediate run, 3 difficult and two extremely difficult runs.
- The Meech Quad lift services two intermediate runs, one of which is Paradise at almost 1 mile long.
- The Valley where two Quad lifts, 1 triple lift and two surface lifts, service 5 easy runs, 4 Intermediate runs and 1 difficult run.
Full snowmaking capability and excellent grooming ensure a great experience for beginners to expert skiers and snowboarders alike.
photo: ©wpmcelligott.com
The Mountain
Total runs: 23
Easy trails for novices: 5
Difficult trails for Intermediate: 9
Very Difficult: 4
Extremely Difficult: 2
Lifts: 2 Surface, 4 Quad Chair lifts, 1 Triple Chair
Lighted runs for night-skiing: 12
Elevations:
- Skyline: 590 Feet
- Valley: 360 Feet
- Meech: 512 Feet
About an hour away from home now, I worked 2 seasons at Fortune as a part time ski instuctor (at that time I lived in Ottawa, it was 20 minutes from home).
small but very fun place to ski, we had "nighthawks" skiiing there too.
The CNIB program parters blind skiers with seeing buddies who call "left" "right" to their partners to steer them down the slopes at night (they have lights on the hill)
I used to give the "nighthawks" regular lessons, it was excellent!
One sunny saturday I taught a group of 8 or 10 giggling Philipino girls that had never seen snow before...ever!
Since none had a single bad ski habit yet, i got them all skiiing the "bunny" hill like a bunch of pro's (pro snowplowers anyways) in an hour.
I'll never forget this one tiny girl, she was so happy after the lesson she stopped me to tell me how she was now blasting by her boyfriend, and boy she was dusting him all the way down.
He had declined the lesson of course......
There is another "expert" side to Fortune over the back of the 2 runs to the left called "Skyline". This only shows 50% of Fortune's terrain.
Very exciting run over at "Skyline" called "Heigdveit" named after Olymipic champ Anne Hegdveit" its a steep straight run, very narrow with big bumps all over it. My fav!
PS it's not me in the pic or it would be way more exciting, like a huge air...with a "Daffy" or "backscatcher" or "mule kick" thrown in with a little rail grab!
Ski instucting was the best "job" ever.
Enjoy!
Jason
PS: I'll add more ski pics later, so be sure to come on back again!