Spray Lake in Toronto is closing! Anyone know info or other sites?

[torontoboater]

Hi all,

I just heard that sadly, Spray Lake waterski centre, located near Toronto, Ontario has been sold to a developer.  Does anyone have any information about that, and whether it will continue to operate in some fashion.  And if not, if there are any other sites in/near Toronto which may replace it?  Other than McClintocks, which is a bit far from Toronto, I don't know of other slalom sites in the area.  Thanks so much for any info you may have. 

[BTheis]

Drew Ross does some lessons up in Muskoka and they still do lessons at Bush’s.

[summerski]

Yes it is very unfortunate that Spray Lake closed.  I was the original person who set up that site as summerski and ran it as a club from from 2000 to 2012.  In 2012 I was outbid for the purchase of the site so moved on and I switched my focus to purchasing a private site.  I had already waited 12 years to buy that site and I was not interested in continuing to lease it from a new owner.  I found another expired gravel pit site the same distance from the airport as Spray Lake but to the west rather than the north.  It is pinned on google maps as my original club name "summerski".  We currently have a group of 10 local avid slalom skiers skiing there but with the closing of Spray Lake I am interested in opening it up to more skiers this summer since many of the Spray Lake skiers were originally skiing with me.

[lpskier]

There is a private lake on the Niagara peninsula where Harold Hittringer skis in the summer. 
 

Three sites in Ottawa. 
 

There is also a lake hear Toronto  named for the province. Not sure it has any ski sites though. 
 

And  FYI Yankees, it’s Torono, not Toronto. The second T is silent. 

[Taynton]

12 hours ago, lpskier said:

There is a private lake on the Niagara peninsula where Harold Hittringer skis in the summer. 
 

Three sites in Ottawa. 
 

There is also a lake hear Toronto  named for the province. Not sure it has any ski sites though. 
 

And  FYI Yankees, it’s Torono, not Toronto. The second T is silent. 

FYI Yankees, The second T is only silent on the east coast, since a good chunk of you are west coasters feel free to pronounce it properly lol.

[S1Pitts]

@lpskierMy son in law is from Ottawa and is asking where the three sites are?

Edited February 5, 2023 by S1Pitts

[summerski]

There are two sites in Greely - Sunset Lakes and Southwood and one in Carp - Loch Cameron - go to https://wswc.ca/sites/ and zoom in to the location you are interested in.

[lpskier]

@S1PittsWhat Summerski said. Danny Anderson is your contact. 

[lpskier]

@TayntonBeing a northern New Yorker (about 60 miles south of the border) I have lots of friends from Toronto. They universally pronounce it with the second T silent. But then they pronounce Vancouver “Vancouver,” not “Vancoover,” as I hear it pronounced from time to time in western Canada. When in Rome, I like to say, do as the Romans do.  
 

FYI, my three favorite mountains to ski in North America  are in western Canada: Whistler, Blackcomb and Fernie. Now that’s some skiing! 
 

I’ll give myself an “off topic” for this one. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by lpskier

[MISkier]

@lpskier, it is pronounced with the second T silent in the song "This Beat Goes On" by The Kings, who were from both Ontario and Vancouver.

Hey Judy, get Trudy
You said to call you up if I was feeling moody
Hey little Donna, still wanna
You said to ring you up when I was in Toronto

Edited February 6, 2023 by MISkier

[Laz]

On 2/4/2023 at 11:00 PM, lpskier said:

And  FYI Yankees, it’s Torono, not Toronto. The second T is silent. 

Shhh.  That's the only way to tell a native hoser from non-native.

[chaloux]

Lol - Toronto tomato Toronto potato. Whatever.

There are a few courses up in Muskoka. I have one, another on go home Lake (Rob C), a few on Muskoka, one on long Lake in Bala, Bush's, Faerie Lake in Huntsville, a private one on swan Lake just outside of Port Carling, and I'm sure many, many more. Any "sites"? Bush's would be the best bet.  But I have a barbeque and a hot tub, and I'm happy to tow 🙂

[lpskier]

@Laz Eh? 

[chaloux]

1 minute ago, lpskier said:

@Laz Eh? 

I think the point is that we're all hosers, "native" or not

[torontoboater]

Thanks folks for all of the helpful replies.  Seems like there a few options and happy to learn about Summerski which seems to be the closest.