Date set for Optimist Hill grand opening

After more than five years of careful planning, fundraising and construction, Optimist Hill is ready to open on Feb. 10.

Optimist Hill Campaign co-chair Joe Van’t Hof couldn’t contain his excitement as a handful of volunteers joined him Sunday to apply the finishing touches to Saskatoon’s newest attraction.

“It’s absolutely amazing, it’s overwhelming. I’m really looking forward to having the opportunity to share it with the city of Saskatoon — the families that are going to spend time here.”

Organizers initially had hoped for a limited opening on Friday, but frigid conditions put a halt to that plan, as the hill will be run under a policy of  closing when wind chill values reach -30 C.

An official opening on Feb. 10 will mark the completion of Phase 1 of the Optimist Hill project, which included building the hill by adding about 5 metres to both the top and bottom of the existing hill in Diefenbaker Park,  extending the runs to approximately 140 metres.

Another 147, 000 square metres of dirt was also moved from elsewhere within the park to make it happen.

Phase 1 also includes the 3twenty Modular Village at the base of the hill. The main feature of the village is a spot where people will be able to sit, warm up and enjoy a hot coffee, as well as bathrooms and a unit full of rental gear for customers.

“People are going to really enjoy coming here and spending some time,” Van’t Hof said of the village.

Completing the first phase of the project is the ski lift, and the new four sections of the hill — a terrain park, a ski and snowboard freestyle run, a tubing run and the free tobogganing section.

Everything but the terrain park is ready to use even though the campaign fell short of it’s $2.9-million funding goal. But even that wouldn’t stop the hill from opening this winter.

“We are optimists,” he said with a chuckle. “And that’s what it really comes down to.”

Van’t Hof said the project has relied heavily on support from the community.

“Even in this last couple weeks as we really struggled to get to this point, I’ve just been absolutely warmed to the heart from from people, companies and businesses that are stepping up to give us cash or product to be able to showcase this entire place to the community.”

Building the hill has also had its perks. Aligning itself with industry heavyweights as part of joining the Canada West Ski Areas Association meant things like rental skis were donated by Ski Louise, along with bibs from another resort. The partnership also offered the project leads a wealth of tips and tricks to help operations run smoothly.

Organizers expected some might have a hard time adapting to paying fees to use the park. While a free section for tobogganing will remain, most of the features at the park require an admission fee.

Van’t Hof said he hoped the park changes  the way youth approach winter in the Bridge City.

“I’m really excited about the potential future for a young man or young lady to come and hone their skills on this hill. Some day we may see them as an Olympic champion or an X-Games champion,” Van’t Hof said.

“If Mark McMorris can do it, there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t develop that same skill here.”