MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Fall 2018

FALL 2018 ML BLUE 29 At 4am, the ski hill should be deserted. But lights bounce through the trees, making the icicles seem to glow. It might be pre-dawn, but for a group of tough athletes from Collingwood, those early morning hours are prime to get in a 15-kilometre trail run, even in sub-zero temperatures. Who are these hardened—arguably crazy—runners? As the lights bob closer and snatches of conversation get louder, a passerby would hear bits of conversation about work schedules, upcoming races, and breastfeeding. This tight-knit group isn’t made up of Olympic hopefuls, it’s made up of a group of moms who all live in town and can probably beat your time up The Grind at Blue Mountain. And that’s in February. By the time summer hits, they’re out even earlier and plotting to snag Strava segments up and down the mountain. Cait Foisy, arguably the headman (headwoman) of the crew, is actually ahead of all the men’s times on The Grind going downhill. She and the three other moms who showed up for a hard 10K at 5am on a weekday still make it home in time to get the kids breakfast before heading to work. They aren’t the only women who are crushing it in the outdoor space in Ontario these days. Collingwood has become a bit of a hotspot for female athletes and outdoor entrepreneurs. Climber Leslie Timms runs her successful On The Rocks business nearby, guiding tourists and locals to the outdoor climbing spots in the area. The newly-founded Collingwood Off-Road Cycling Association boasts a membership that’s nearly one- third women. Mountain biker Charlotte Batty has shifted from racing to running women’s clinics around the country as part of her business, Minii Adventures (see article about Batty on p. 60). And at Blue Mountain, women are taking over: the Manager of Lift Operations is industry veteran Lisa May, and the Manager and Assistant Manager at Patrol Services are both women. It’s easy to look at statistics on women in sport and become disheartened. Fast and Female, a group founded to help bring more girls into sports, shares some scary numbers: 41 percent of girls ages 3 to 17 don’t participate in sport, and 75 percent of teenage girls do not reach the minimum level of daily physical activity recommended by the World Health Organization. That’s not great—but considering that the history of women in sport is still quite young, and industries that were traditionally entirely dominated by men have started making space for women, progress is being made… It’s just slower than we might hope. MARC LANDRY/BLUE MOUNTAIN RESORT words :: Molly Hurford …in outdoor sport—if you know where to look