34
Scene through a lodge window at Camp Fortune 74.10.41945
Gatineau Hills, Old Chelsea, QC
35
Ottawa Ski Club sign, asking members to keep the lodge and table clean. 2003.1.61930
36
Ottawa Ski Club Night Riders patch1945
37
Other accommodations of note were the three dormitories, named Mort's, Plaunt and Southam, provided for the use of the Night Riders. All were gifts from private donors. Mort's was destroyed by a lightning strike while the others continued to be used for other purposes when the Night Riders were eventually disbanded.38
Ottawa Ski Club Night Riders patch1940
39
Perhaps one of the most astonishing aspects in the development of skiing in the Ottawa region is the prodigious amount of volunteer labour, much of it hard physical work, that went into providing the facilities that allowed the sport, not only to survive, but to thrive.Of all the many members who devoted their spare time to the development of the OSC, it was arguably the organizational ability of Joe Morin that contributed most to the emergence and maintenance of the trail system and the Club's increasing assets. As the trail system expanded so did the need to properly maintain it. A piecemeal approach would clearly not work and in 1924 Joe Morin founded the Night Riders a volunteer group that "…attacked the thick bush in every direction within a three mile radius of Camp Fortune armed with machetes, brush hooks, saws, axes and dynamite." (Marshall, p.41)
40
Ottawa Ski Club Night Riders in front of their headquarters1945
Gatineau Hills, Old Chelsea, QC
41
The extraordinary contribution of the Night Riders was perhaps best described in the Ottawa Ski Club Year Book, 1944-45:"Splendid services have again been rendered by the … Night Riders, under the leadership of their energetic and resourceful Captain, Bill Irving, and his lieutenants, Elmer Cassel and Fred Dixon. Originally bush whackers, the Night Riders have developed into trail finders, first aid men, builders and engineers. They have saved the Club many hundreds of dollars by rebuilding the Pink Lake Lodge, and their bunk-houses, the Southam and Plaunt lodges; by intelligent grading and clearing work they have doubled the capacity of some of the hills around Camp Fortune and greatly reduced the risk of accidents. They have also greatly improved the ski tow on the Slalom Hill. The Night Riders may justly be proud of their work."
42
Travellers Hill, Camp Fortune1941
Gatineau Hills, Old Chelsea, QC
43
By 1947 concern about the lack of maintenance on the trails had already been expressed, hardly surprising as the focus of the overworked Night Riders was increasingly on the maintenance of the open hills and downhill slopes. The volunteer time available was further eroded by an interest among members of the group in skiing trends emerging from Europe, trends that would evolve into modern alpine skiing. From that involvement emerged many of the Club's outstanding competitors including, John and Harvey Clifford, Andy and Art Tommy, John Fripp, Alex McDougal, Dave and Arnold Midgley, Geoff Crain, all of whom were members of the Night Riders.44
Ottawa Ski Club Trail Riders patch1948
45
By 1950-51, the effort and time required to maintain the Club's trails and slopes were beyond the Night Riders ability to provide them. In the same year, an parallel organization was formed, the Trail Riders, under the leadership of Doug Carmen and Verne Tant, to do for the trail system what the Night Riders were doing for the open hills. It was a big task. There were over 103 kms of trails requiring ongoing maintenance, or, as Captain Joe Morin, the Club's famous trailmaker, argued, "…124 miles coming and going" (Marshall, p.22). The division of responsibilities between the Trail Riders and Night Riders was to serve the Club well until 1955 when Night Rider operations were suspended and local farmers were employed during the winter to maintain the hills. By 1953, the development of new hills and facilities were requiring far more effort than volunteer labour could provide. In that year, John Clifford was appointed Area Manager with responsibility for year-round operations. (John Clifford, was a prominent ski area developer, OSC member, an alpine ski and waterski champion, an alternate member of the Canadian Olympic Ski Team in 1948 and 1952, of whom Eddie MacCabe, a long-time local journalist, commented "…no other man…has left a greater mark on the Gatineau hills and skiing…") It should be noted that maintenance of the trail system was continued by the Trail Riders for a further 20-year period.46
Ottawa Ski ClubTrail Riders patch 2003.2.21955
47
Ottawa Ski ClubTrail Riders enamel pin1950
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