No longer a pipe dream, the idea of a four-season playground has become an exciting reality
story & photos by Allison Kennedy Davies
Remember when Southern Georgian Bay was primarily a ski destination? The stores would be packed during winter weekends with shoppers jostling for the last head of romaine lettuce or the final six-pack. In the ‘shoulder seasons’ things would quiet down – so much so that many business owners would close up shop for most of November and April. There were fewer visitors and less traffic. After all, there was less to do … or was there?
That has all changed. Undoubtedly, this area boasts the best skiing in Ontario, but what’s really changing the game is a widespread recognition of the ample activities available here in the summer months. From golf and tennis to outdoor adventures and watersports, there’s no longer an ‘off-season’ in Southern Georgian Bay.
We’ve evolved into a true four-season destination, but perhaps more importantly, we’ve evolved into a popular four-season home for both active retirees and, increasingly, young families who want to enjoy this year-round recreational lifestyle now, not later.
In response to this undeniable ‘summerization’, Southern Georgian Bay businesses are changing, diversifying their offerings and building a four-season infrastructure to accommodate these new demands. Local residents and visitors are enjoying more activity options than ever and the region has grown into a world-class summer destination.
A Four-season Vision
At the Georgian Triangle Visitor’s Association, executive director Linda Simpson has watched the region grow and thrive. The volunteer-driven organization was originally founded in honour of Blue Mountain founder Jozo Weider, and 35 years later, Simpson says Weider’s dreams are now a reality. “It was Jozo’s dream that this region be a true four-season destination,” recalls Simpson, “He knew, when he was sitting at Blue Mountain resort, that it couldn’t happen alone. Sadly he died before his dream was realized and we were founded in his memory. But Jozo and George Weider and Blue Mountain, they’ve understood that potential from day one.”
This four-season growth makes Southern Georgian Bay unique. “When we looked at daytrips in recent years, summer surpasses winter now and it has for some time,” explains Simpson, “And it’s no surprise that May to Labour Day is huge versus the winter season. Four-season is starting to really become a reality. What you see here in terms of true four-season visitation isn’t very common across Ontario. It really shows the strength of what we have in Southern Georgian Bay. Everyone touts four-season offerings but we really have it going on. The opportunity for us as a destination is to really develop summer.” And it’s an opportunity that’s being seized at every turn.
Blue Mountain: Answering the Call
Look no further than the base of Blue Mountain for evidence that the summer season is now big business. Ontario’s largest ski resort is quickly becoming Ontario’s largest four-season resort. In recent years, the mountain has added a host of summer attractions and is currently breaking ground on its new Wind Rider triple zip line, slated to open this July. It’s all part of a master plan that’s been laid for decades, says Collin Matanowitsch, Blue Mountain Resort’s public relations manager.
“As soon as Intrawest came on board in 1999/2000, there was a plan to expand the resort so that it was truly a four-season destination,” explains Matanowitsch. “First we had to develop the village infrastructure. Its now recognized as Ontario’s only resort village and it can hold it’s own for people on summer vacation in the area. They can shop here, eat here, they can really do it all here. Lodging and conferences followed, and over the last five years there’s been a significant investment in green season attractions. Guests want to travel to Blue Mountain and experience something different in Ontario. They specifically want to experience unique summer activities.”
Over the last five years, Blue Mountain has added the Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster (the only one of its kind in Ontario), the Cascade Putting Course (an 18-hole family putting facility), The Woodlot Low Ropes course, the Timber Challenge High Ropes course (for varying ages and abilities) and Mountaintop Segway Tours. Blue Mountain’s summer gondola offers sightseeing and supports the resort’s downhill bike activities. Blue’s private beach for resort guests has been increasingly popular as have dockside activities at the Mill Pond adjacent to the village.
For 2013, the team at Blue Mountain is busy preparing to open the Wind Rider triple zip line. “It will be a unique offering because it’s a triple zip, so there will be three platforms that tie into our existing attractions,” explains Matanowitsch. “It starts at the Timber Challenge High Ropes, zips down to the top of one of our ski runs and back over to finish at The Woodlot Low Ropes course. It’s a group activity, not only for guests on summer vacation with friends and family, but it’s also a leadership and team building opportunity for conference guests.”
For 2013, Blue is further investing in mountain biking. “Mountain biking has always been at our core,” notes Matanowitsch. “The gondola sets us apart from other mountain bike parks because you are up and down quickly. It compliments the trails and the scenery. This year, we brought in Gravity Logic, the famed builders and designers of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. We’ll have two new trails and they are updating Haole, a popular trail with new features being added. The features, which disappeared a few years ago, are back based on popular demand.” This new biking development is all happening at the south end of the mountain, where work is also underway for this winter’s extensive ski season expansion of The Orchard.
“These are our summer attractions 2.0,” jokes Matanowitsch, recalling Blue Mountain’s original foray into summer activities. “The plans were put in place back when Intrawest came on board, but prior to that Jozo Weider had always envisioned having four-season attractions. In the 1980s, they launched Monterra Golf, which was hugely popular and is still a great piece at Blue Mountain that sometimes gets overlooked. We also had the water park with the Great Canadian Slide Ride back in the mid ’80s and ’90s. Prior to that Jozo had a number of other inventions. On the current Mill Pond, he actually had a ski-tow contraption that he set up. It didn’t take off but Jozo was always trying new things.”
The transition to a true four-season destination is evident. “Our summer and winter months are starting to even out,” says Matanowitsch. “Our busiest summer months, July and August, are matching our busy winter months for lodging guests and people coming to Blue Mountain visiting. Through the summer in the Village, you see more and more locals coming up, too. With events every single weekend (like fireworks and fire dancing), we do a great job of ensuring there are complementary activities in the village. Add dining, patios, shopping and there is plenty to do. With the nicer weather and warmer temperatures, we are seeing more people gravitate to Blue not just for multiple day vacations, but also for day trips.”
From Ski Club To Summer Club
Further west along the Escarpment, another ‘traditional’ ski destination has undergone a summer transformation of its own. At the base of the Craigleith Ski Club, past the lodge, past the operations buildings and through the parking lot, you’ll find four HarTru Clay tennis courts (installed in 1983 and 1985) and a recently installed swimming pool (2012) with top-notch change room and washroom facilities. This is the home of the Craigleith Summer Program.
On a typical summer day, you’ll find Craigleith’s head tennis pro and manager, Margot Allan, on the courts giving lessons or in the clubhouse taking reservations and chumming it up with the over 600 members. A former Montreal resident, Allan spent her university years on tennis scholarships in both Florida and South Carolina before moving to Southern Georgian Bay 14 years ago. She’s entering her fourth summer as the manager at Craigleith.
“Interest in tennis is making a comeback,” says Allan with her trademark smile. “Squash was a big sport in recent years,” she recalls, “and a lot of people went from tennis to squash. A lot of tennis players also went to golf. Now people are realizing that golf can be expensive and time-consuming. People are still playing golf, but they are also coming back to tennis. Squash is hard on the body, golf is time-consuming, but tennis gives you a great workout in less time and is often more affordable.”
Located just behind The Orchard development, the Craigleith Summer Program attracts many young families for the unique tennis and swim membership. “We have a lot of retired folks and because the HarTru clay courts are very friendly on our aging population,” explains Allan. “We get a lot of young families coming in from The Orchard and we have working folks that play in our competitive and social house leagues.”
While youth summer camp options are endless in Southern Georgian Bay, Allan says Craigleith has a growing number of junior players. “Typically on a Saturday morning, I’ll get 20 kids out,” says Allan, “We have three weeks of camp this summer – two weeks in July and a week in August – and we are doing tennis and swimming lessons together. We’re introducing the pool, so some kids who are not totally keen on tennis will love the pool and can discover the game too.”
Craigleith Ski Club members get a break on fees, but Allan says they only make up a percentage of the summer membership. An increasing number of members from other local private ski clubs are joining – many attracted by the club’s growing social community. “They love to come and play tennis, bring their stuff to BBQ, sit around and socialize. They go for a swim and even hang out in the evenings,” says Allan, “We also have round robins and social events on the weekends with coffee, muffins and organized play. It’s a really great environment.”
During her 14 years in the area, Allan has watched the region grow into a true four-season destination. “I think a lot of families primarily came here to ski and with the cost of real estate over in Muskoka, some people are starting to think ‘Maybe we should just use our winter home for summer as well?’ You can go to the beach, you can go sailing, you can play golf and you can play tennis. We really do have it all.”
Golf is Still Great
Further west along the Escarpment, you’ll find the rolling greens of The Georgian Bay Club on the south side of Highway 26 and the bay views of the Lora Bay Club on the north side. At the helm of these two iconic local courses is general manager and longtime local resident, Steve Prest.
Golf was one of the earliest summer attractions to take off in the Southern Georgian Bay area. With an abundance of high-quality courses to choose from in the region, visitors often come to golf and end up discovering a wealth of summer activities beyond the greens. Prest says this four-season growth has actually been increasing the number of new players on local courses.
“I’m seeing a positive upswing in our local area with more golfer visits year over year,” says Prest, “which is a great thing for golf in our region and golf in general. With so many more summer visits being experienced in our area, more people are discovering the game of golf, whether for the first time playing miniature golf with the family, going to a driving range, taking lessons at a teaching facility, playing nine holes in the late afternoon or evening, and so on. In turn, public golf course operators continue to refine their offerings to recognize the needs and wants of their customers.” Refining those offerings and recognizing those needs keeps Prest on his toes at both The Georgian Bay Club and Lora Bay. “At The Georgian Bay Club, we were originally founded as strictly a private golf club,” explains Prest. “Suddenly, we are 10 years old and more recently we’ve been discussing additional amenities, such as a fitness and wellness centre, a pool, and so on. I think this will come to the club in the next few years, or even sooner, following the introduction of our final real estate offering at the club.”
Down the road at Lora Bay, these four-season amenities have already become an integral part of the community. “At The Golf Club at Lora Bay, our greatest strength is the surrounding Lora Bay community, for which the golf course is the main amenity and where the majority of golf club members live both seasonally and year round,” explains Prest. “In addition to Lora Bay’s year-round community recreation centre, we are blessed with direct access to Georgian Bay for kayaking, boating, swimming, and both public and private beach areas. In the winter, we have cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and of course, the Georgian Trail runs directly through the community.”
As more and more families and more new and potential golfers come to the Southern Georgian Bay area in the summer months, Prest is tailoring offerings to make it easier for new players to access premium courses like The Golf Club at Lora Bay and The Georgian Bay Club.
“At The Georgian Bay Club, we have a very successful introductory membership program where you may join for one season to ‘test drive’ the club before joining,” says Prest, “and we offer a wide variety of membership programs, including midweek play only. In addition to our annual social membership for dining at the club, we now also have an annual ‘social practice membership’, which provides full access to our practice facilities. This has introduced to the club those new to the game and wanting to add golf to their list of summer activities, and also those who are not quite in our area on a regular basis … yet!”
An increased focus on junior golf is also on the agenda. “One of our core beliefs as a club is that we have a responsibility to our youth to support their development of life skills as young adults, and we offer this support through various junior golf programs for all ages and all skill levels. At first that may sound like a lofty goal, but we now offer programs for those as young as three years of age and up. These programs are first and foremost designed to introduce young children to basic fundamental movement skills and build overall motor skills for all types of sports. We can use the game of golf to do this, and even at this young age can introduce basic golf concepts such as grip, stance, balance and swing, all in a safe and fun environment. Also new this year is having our golf academy staff as volunteers at local elementary schools to introduce golf in the community. Our goal is to help grow the game by reaching out to each school in the local area and inspire young people to learn and play golf in their community”.
Other new programs include a Girl’s Club developmental golf program for girls 6 to 12 and various junior golf programs for up to 18 years of age. These programs are all designed to promote a positive self-image, friendships and the confidence to try new things, whether it’s golf or any other endeavour. Programs are available for those wanting to learn more about competing and those wanting to enjoy a fun, social atmosphere. Junior golf camps are also being offered weekly in July and August. The Academy at the Georgian Bay Club is fully public, giving young golfers a great opportunity to get into the sport. “As more and more people come to our area and establish a weekend or permanent residence, more than ever it seems they are doing so for year-round use,” says Prest. “When I talk with those both new to our area and the Club, they always say they’re here for lifestyle, relaxation, the social aspect of the Club, and for all the area in general has to offer.”
Membership is on the upswing at Mad River Golf Club, too. After a resurfacing and 5-hole reconstruction, Mad River reopened this spring with a new family-friendly facelift. Increasingly, Mad River is attracting younger families, with members from several generations, who are drawn to the Southern Georgian Bay area for its ample four-season activities.
“Our area is second to none when it comes to the exceptional level of skiing, boating, hiking, and of course, golf,” says Mad River’s director of member services, Sandy Higgins. “Professional families are regularly moving into the area as well as retirees and weekenders because the lifestyle is an easy sell! Nothing is more valuable these days than time, and to spend such quality time with your family enjoying the sports you love is just one of the bonuses of living locally. I often think of the area as ‘being all things to all people,’ and Mad River Golf Club fits into that profile perfectly. It is not unusual to see three generations of the same family out on a Saturday or Sunday enjoying a quick breakfast at the club before they tee off; and the same holds true for the winter months when that same family shifts their focus from golf to skiing.”
Higgins has also seen membership demographics shift. A decade ago, the average member was between 60 and 65, whereas today families with parents as young as 35 are investing in this four-season paradise. Mad River has responded with a “New Golfer Program” and a “Returning Golfer Program” targeted towards helping children, spouses and adult family members get into – or back into – the game so the entire family can play together. Even the membership structure at Mad River has evolved, with an equity membership that can include extended family –grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, in-laws, nieces and nephews can now become non-voting members just by paying their annual dues.
There’s no doubt that the region’s expanding four-season draw has been great for golf in Southern Georgian Bay.
Scenic Caves: Visionary
Few people have a clearer vision of Southern Georgian Bay’s true four-season potential than Scenic Caves Nature Adventures owner Rob Thorburn. Recently honoured with the Colonel Don Dailey Lifetime Achievement Award by Attractions Ontario, Thorburn is a huge advocate for the region and has made his ambitious on-paper plans an impressive reality at Scenic Caves.
Thorburn has transformed the park into a four-season destination complete with cross-country skiing, snowshoe and hiking trails, a suspension bridge that offers an amazing view of Southern Georgian Bay, Eco-Adventure tours that teach participants about local flora and fauna while offering the thrill of a treetop walk and a zip line experience, and most recently, the Thunderbird Twin Zip line, which gives you an adrenalin-pumping half-mile ride complete with a 14,000-square-kilometre view of the valley. In addition to the ‘big’ attractions, Thorburn has installed a new play area, upgraded the pond and the mini-golf, put in gem stone mining and added an electric train for children. Add to that the existing caves and caverns, and you have a destination that can keep any active family busy for a few full days.
“Every year that we add something, people stay longer,” notes Thorburn. “There was an expression they had in the old brochures, 20 years ago, when we bought Scenic Caves: Come for an hour, spend a day. Now they come for an hour and spend a weekend. We’ve got lots and lots to offer, and we work with Blue Mountain Resort, Scandinave Spa, The GTTA, The BIA, Thornbury, Meaford and the gang at Wasaga Beach. If we all work together, and hold hands and run together, Southern Georgian Bay is going to be a destination as strong as Niagara Falls.”
While the Thunderbird Twin Zip opened last August, 2013 is its first full season. Thorburn says the exciting zipline hasbeen wildly popular so far. “I’ve done it many times and it has the same effect on me every time,” laughs the 73-year-old. “When you leave the tower, all of a sudden you open up to this huge 14,000-square-kilometer view, and then the ground drops away from you and the view becomes dominant. It’s like being in a glider, a controlled glider. It’s tummy-busting.”
Despite all the improvements and additions at Scenic Caves, Thorburn says he’s not done yet. “We are working, today, on two things for next year and the year after – major things,” hints Thorburn. “I am not going to mention them because too many people are copying our ideas. On a longer-term basis, three years out we are going to build a major new main building with logs and stone that’s an over three-million-dollar project. After that we are doing another build related to ‘glamping’ or ‘glamorous camping’. It’s not yurts … and I won’t tell you what it is … but it’s going to be 40 opportunities for people to ditch their car, walk a mile or a half-mile into the woods and find a place to stay. It will be really great for people to get out into the country without paying a huge cost for a wilderness environment. Those are four major things in the next three to five years that you’ll see at Scenic Caves.”
As Thorburn watches the region grow and evolve, he sees great things ahead for a ‘summerized’ Southern Georgian Bay. “People are choosing this part of Georgian Bay because they can branch out from here to do the different things they want. They are close to nature, to the Bruce Trail, to the Niagara Escarpment. You are close to a lot of fun things to do in and around the Collingwood, Clarksburg, Thornbury and Meaford areas. This area is going to continue to grow as people sell their cottages up north. People want to retire close to the city, but not in the city.”
And it’s not just retirees making the ‘big move,’ as Thorburn has witnessed with his own family. “You’re getting people who skied here as kids, had a farm here as kids, who spent all their weekends here and now they want to live here,” says Thorburn. “I see many, many younger people moving into this town. It’s younger folks with lots of vitality and lots of ideas. They are going to be much more aggressive in terms of planning and growing the towns and that’s going to be a good thing. Those kids are going to bring the energy this region deserves on a grassroots level. I think it’s a natural for these young kids to migrate here. This new generation, they followed their parents not because the parents told them to, but because they wanted to. This is a great lifestyle for their kids. It’s all here.”
As Southern Georgian Bay continues to add summer attractions to its offerings, the region continues to grow and prosper, in an era when few things are enjoying the same success. “This area is still growing and Scenic Caves is still growing,” says Thorburn. “We haven’t had a down year in 20 years.”
Get Out & Get Active
With so many new summer attractions and activities to choose from in the region, there is plenty to make Southern Georgian Bay a summer destination for visitors and a summer playground for those lucky enough to live here. Whether you’re zipping down the Escarpment, joining a tennis house league, hitting the driving range or pedaling the trails at Blue Mountain, there’s never been a better time to get out and get active.
