For well over a century, the Edmonton Ski Club has been a big part of the lives of Edmontonians. Many thousands have skied and snowboarded there over the years, and the club’s huge wooden ski jump was a fixture of the city’s skyline for decades.
Skiing at Edmonton Ski Club, date unknown (post Muttart Conservatory construction in 1976). (Image courtesy of Edmonton Ski Club)
A skier jumping off a ski ramp at Edmonton Ski Club, date unknown. (Image courtesy of Edmonton Ski Club)
Downhill skiing at Edmonton Ski Club, date unknown (pre Muttart Conservatory construction in 1976). (Image courtesy of Edmonton Ski Club)
A 30-metre ski jump ramp on Connors Hill, date unknown. It was on this ramp in 1913 that one of the club’s founding members, John Haugen, set the Canadian record with a 109-foot jump. The ramp was completed in 1912, rebuilt in 1935, closed in 1975 and torn down in 1978. (Image courtesy of Edmonton Ski Club)
Ski meet at the bottom of Connors Hill, 1914. (Image courtesy of Edmonton Ski Club and City of Edmonton Archives, EA-10-2791)
Jennifer Heil on the slopes at Edmonton Ski Club, 1994. (Image courtesy of Heather McSporran-Heil family photo archives)
Jennifer Heil is giving an interview for Athlete of the Week, 1994. (Image courtesy of Heather McSporran-Heil family photo archives)
Jennifer Heil on the left and Amie Heil on the right during the 1995/96 season, Jennifer’s first year on the Alberta team. (Image courtesy of Heather McSporran-Heil family photo archives)
Edmonton Ski Club trip to Banff National Park, Alberta, 1937. (Image courtesy of Provincial Archives of Alberta, KS.1/1 via flickr.com)
The club was founded in 1911 by Scandinavian immigrants, and the next year it found its permanent home on Gallagher Hill in Cloverdale. Landowner Pete Andersen made it possible by agreeing to let the club clear the trees off the hill above his brickyard.
Things were a lot cheaper to build in 1912. The wooden ramp went over what is now Connors Road, was 30 metres long and reportedly cost $47.05 to build.
Andersen’s brickyard is long gone. Cloverdale has gone through a lot of big changes, including the devastating flood of 1915. The Edmonton Ski Club has survived it all.
The big jump was demolished in 1978, but its memory lives on. And even serves as an inspiration on occasion for those too young to have ever seen it.
“I heard all about the infamous ski jump. I remember the club put in a pretty big metal jump for the freestyle program and I remember it looking pretty scary. But I talked myself through it because the legend was that there was such a big ski jump there before. I talked myself through it… because they were crazy enough to go off an even bigger one. They were far crazier to launch themselves off that jump than I ever was.”
Former Olympic and World Cup freestyle champion Jennifer Heil is the club’s most famous alumnus. When she was a young girl, her parents would drive her in from their home in Spruce Grove. And she thrived on that ski hill.
“The club was the foundation of my athletic career. And going on and becoming an Olympic champion,” she says. “It had an outsized role, and beyond that I just have so much pride to have come from a program that was so strong it didn’t matter the size of our slope. It’s a very short slope and we had to modify the slope for our jumps and aerial maneuvers, but it was a place of community I’d say first and foremost.”
“It was always a privilege to be able to drive into the Edmonton river valley,” Heil continues. “It was just exciting… to land at the Muttart Conservatory with such interesting buildings. I just felt very privileged to access that site and be a part of the city. As the sun sets you watch the downtown light up. It felt very magical to be there.”
The Edmonton Ski Club is going through some big changes these days. There has been a move to year round programming over the last couple of years: the old chalet will be demolished, making way for a new lodge that should be open in the latter part of 2024.
Here is how the club describes its vision.
“Our new facility will enable ESC’s community partners, including the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, Free Play for Kids, KidSport Edmonton and the Indigenous Sport Council (Alberta) to offer year-round outdoor sport and culture programming. The new facility will accommodate a range of participants, from those currently facing barriers to Olympic-level athletes.”
The club has a long and storied past, but Jennifer Heil is most excited about its future:
“I’m really passionate about sharing the message about how important this location is as a community hub and making sure it’s a place where everyone feels welcome and can take part. I think what is such an amazing part of this legacy is that most ski hills are pretty inaccessible both by cost and location. The Edmonton Ski Club is anything but, and especially with the new LRT line I think it just opens up the opportunity.”
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