Sandy Wolofsky is on a mission to share her passion for skiing with newcomers to Canada by organizing free intro to ski days through her organization, OuiCanSki. Hit the slopes with Sandy and her dedicated volunteers, and meet the newcomers strapping on skis and snowboards for the first time.
Season 7, Episode 1
Clip: Sara
Wow, oh my god, that's amazing. My son is only two and a half years old and he started to snowboard today. He's doing an amazing job. I'm so proud of him. And at the beginning he was afraid a bit and now just, he's doing amazing.
TINA:
Sara is a newcomer to Canada, from Israel. She’s on the slopes of a ski hill near Montreal, with her six-month old daughter and two and a half year old son.
Sara’s on skis for the first time...
CLIP: Sara
At first, I fell, and it was very scary. But in the end, I managed to do it alone. My instructor, she was amazing. She understood immediately what I need to hear, what I needed. What I need basically. She told me just don't try to be perfect, just survive it and you will be good. And that's what I did.
TINA:
Sara’s here with a group of other newcomers, mostly from Israel and Ukraine. Their day trip was organized by OuiCanSki. That’s “oui” spelled o-u-i, like the French word for yes. OuiCanSki is a program dedicated to teaching new Canadians how to ski, so that they don’t just endure winter... but embrace it.
We’ll meet the co-founder of OuiCanSki and hear more stories from the slopes... coming up on Countless Journeys.
THEME MUSIC, THEN FADE UNDER
TINA:
Welcome to Countless Journeys, from the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. I’m Tina Pittaway.
And this season our stories are all about sports… We hit the ski slopes, and the skating rink, the soccer field and the community centre, to learn more about how sports helps enrich the lives of newcomers, and the communities where they live.
If you speak to newcomers to Canada, the subject of winter is sure to come up. It’s cold, it’s hard, it’s long, and it takes 15 minutes to bundle the kids up so they can go outside.
Sure, coming to Canada is worth it, but part of the price is putting up with winter.
That’s an attitude Sandy Wolofsky wants to change.
Sandy is the founder of OuiCanSki. Since 2018, she’s worked with immigrant settlement groups to organize ski days... a bus trip to the slopes, ski gear, snacks, lessons, and even a pair of warm winter gloves to take home. Participants have come from Panama, Colombia, Brasil, Argentina, Kenya, Sudan, Guinea, Israel, Ukraine, 21 countries in all. All learning that winter can be fun.
Freelance producer Ellen Payne Smith went along on this year’s OuiCanSki trip, to Ski Montcalm in Rawdon, Quebec, and she joins me now to tell us all about it.
Hi Ellen!
ELLEN:
Hi Tina.
TINA:
Tell us a bit about OuiCanSki, and the woman who started it, Sandy Wolofsky.
ELLIE:
Sure. So, OuiCanSki is an idea Sandy came up with, to help newcomers discover a new activity, that families can do together, and that can help them get into the fun spirit of winter. At least, that’s how Sandy hopes they’ll see it. She works with settlement agencies to put on the events. This year’s was in partnership with an organization called Ometz.
And Sandy really does work hard to make the day fun. People go up together on a bus, they get free lessons, poutine, and maple syrup, and even gourmet cookies.
TINA:
A real Canadian experience!
ELLEN:
Yes, and for many of the participants these are all new experiences.
TINA:
What’s Sandy’s background? Is her work ski-related?
ELLEN:
She’s had a really interesting career. She was a reporter... started off as a journalist in Moscow and she was there when the Soviet Union collapsed. She spent most of the 90s in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, before returning to Montreal. Then she worked in film, television... including a stint in reality TV... before going into PR. Where, you won’t be surprised to learn, she’s worked for the likes of the National Freestyle Ski Team.
TINA:
So there is a skiing connection. And I assume Sandy is a skier herself...
ELLEN:
Oh yes. She started when she was a toddler.
SANDY WOLOFSKY
Skiing has been the thing that I have loved most, since I was three years old. I have loved everything about the sport: being in the snow, putting on the ski boots, going down the mountain, going up the mountain, meeting people, every little aspect of the experience I love.
TINA:
Now In the background notes for this story there was a YouTube link to a video of Sandy’s maternal grandparents skiing on Montreal’s Mount Royal in the 1940s. It was soon after they immigrated to Canada from Poland. We’ll put that link to that video in the show notes for any listeners who want to see it... It’s pretty great.
Did Sandy speak to you at all about that footage and her grandparents skiing?
ELLEN:
She did! She found a whole slew of 16mm home movies in her parents’ basement a few years ago and got them digitized. She said learning how to ski was actually a really important thing for her grandparents when they were trying to fit into Canadian society... and they’re a big part of the reason she started OuiCanSki.
So, finding that footage was really meaningful to her.
SANDY WOLOFSKY
The idea that I can now see my grandparents, and my uncle, on the slopes of Mount Royal and the cars in the background, just blew my mind. It made me feel attached to a previous generation, all of whom have passed away, in a way that I don't think I ever did before. I really feel like the torch is constantly being passed.
And when I thought about how I want to thank my grandparents, which became very important to me at a certain point in my life, I thought maybe I could introduce new immigrants to something that I love so much, that helped my grandfather become Canadian. So that's why I started OuiCanSki, as a way to teach new arrivals that winter is a beautiful thing to embrace, and skiing is a wonderful sport that will help you enjoy winter in our country. I love winter. I could have winter 12 months out of the year. I could live in snow 12 months out of year. I am winter woman, hear me roar.
TINA:
That’s lovely. So, you joined the group going to Ski Montcalm on December 21 of last year. How many people were along for the day?
ELLEN:
OK, so roughly I think there were thirty or forty of us on the bus going up... but things got off to a bit of a rocky start. We gathered early on a Sunday morning – early for me at least and we waited and waited for the bus. Which came two hours late.
TINA:
That’s a bit much.
ELLEN:
I mean look. Sandy said that was “a bit of a disaster,” but she also told me after it taught her an important lesson... because it didn’t seem to bother any of the participants. They were excited and ready to go, whenever the bus was there for them.
TINA:
I’ve got to say, I would probably be a bit cranky if I was waiting two hours in the middle of winter – especially in Montreal - for a bus.
ELLEN:
Look, it gave me a chance to get to know everyone. So, I spoke to some of the participants before we set off. I talked to them on the bus, about how they were feeling that day, what they were hoping for. One of them was Isabelle...
ISABELLE:
I'm originally from Brazil, so yeah, it's very different. No snow like this, there's no average skiing, there's not even a place to even try it out in Brazil. [00:05:05][8.1]
ELLEN:
Isabelle lived in Canada once before, in Edmonton, but she’s only been in Montreal for six months. And this isn’t quite her first time at a ski hill... she went snowboarding once... but that was 12 years ago.
TINA:
So, she’s a little rusty.
ELLEN:
Mhmm, and a bit nervous, but still looking forward to it.
Isabelle: I hope I'll remember how, because it's also been 12 years since it last happened. And I'm hoping it will turn out okay. I'm expecting some falls, but hopefully not too painful, because last time I remember when I tried it for the first time. I was sore, like, you know, I fell so many times.
Ellie: You can't really prepare yourself for falling. It's always going to be a surprise.
Isabelle: It's always a surprise, and with snowboarding, you always fall back. It's like, hey, your bum takes a hit, you know.
Ellie: The next day you can really feel it when you are sitting down.
Yeah you really feel it, like your whole body, and you're like OK, I feel muscles that I did not know I had. You know, kind of like that. But, so I’m hoping I'm not going to be too sore tomorrow as well, because again, it's been 12 years.
ELLEN:
After we got up to the ski hill, everyone gathered in the chalet, and Sandy welcomed everyone and explained how the day was going to go.
SANDY:
These guys over here are all volunteers, okay? They're not, they're all, they are all amazing. (Loud applause.) They're all going to go and we're going to set you up...
FADE UNDER
ELLEN:
Sandy handed out warm cookies, and free gloves from Auclair, one of her sponsors. Plus, there were free ski helmets too for the kids.
Sandy:
...And then you're going to take the number. The volunteers are going to help you find your ski boots, then you're going to go downstairs, you're going to get your equipment, and then we're throwing you outside into some instructors and the instructors are gonna take you skiing and you're have the best day of your whole lives. (Enthusiastic cheering and applause)
Ellen:
After the introductions, everyone trooped downstairs..
VOLUNTEER INSTRUCTOR:
They’re really tight to put on – push it in.
Ellen:
...to put on all the ski gear.
FADE UNDER
It takes a lot of people to run a successful daylike this: ski instructors, volunteers... while the group were getting geared up, I spoke with one of those volunteers. His name is Patrick Tisdale, and this is his fourth time helping out with OuiCanSki. And he told me bit about his role.
PATRICK TISDALE
A bit of everything. We're just facilitators. We want these people to have a nice day. We smile, we help them put the boots on, and the helmet, and to walk around and to have the skis on their feet and not fall, and just basically we're here for them to enjoy themselves.
TINA:
Now walking around in ski boots is hard! I can just picture a whole room full of newcomers, trying to stay on their feet.
ELLEN:
Totally. Somebody described it to me as walking like a robot.
TINA:
That is totally what it’s like. Now what about the ski hill itself? Why Ski Montcalm? Is that where these events always happen?
ELLEN:
It’s been a few different places, but the last few years it’s been at Ski Montcalm, and Sandy plans to keep going back there.
It’s not one of these huge hills, so it’s less intimidating. And Sandy said she also likes it for a couple of other reasons... both practical and philosophical.
TINA:
Let’s start with the practical.
ELLEN:
Always. Part of it is the magic carpet...so it’s kind of like a long moving sidewalk like the ones you get in airports.
And at Ski Montcalm it’s covered, and gets little kids and people who are just beginning skiing up the bunny hill.
And this one at Ski Montcalm is covered and warm which is a big deal when you’re on a cold hill. And so the newcomers are when they’re getting up the ski hill they’re not already tired by the time they get there.
And there’s another practical thing - the instructors are amazing. They have a real passion for being on the hill. It’s something that I saw when I was there. I saw them teaching others how to ski and snowboard.
And Sandy introduced me to one. His name is Camille. He’s an electrician by trade, but he spends his weekends as a ski instructor there. His parents are Egyptian, and his kids all grew up skiing here.
I asked him to tell me about his day so far, and what stood out for him.
CAMILLE:
So far, I' m tired, of course, but I had a blast. Every year that Sandy and her group show up, I am the first one to come running because I want to have a blast!
Of course, little boys and excited little boys, it's always fun at the... They're too much in a rush to do anything, so let's just slide and have fun, and slowly, slowly, if we can pick up a trick or two, and we get them going, and then, oh, wait a minute, that works, so they'll try it. You let them experiment. You can't take yourself too seriously. It has to be fun. You want them to, first of all, finish the lesson. It has be fun, you want them to come back next time, it has to fun. So if it's work, it's not fun.
I just don't take myself seriously, that's all it is. I'm not that outgoing on my real job. It's like I put on the instructor jacket and I become a mascot. Well, you can see I'm a little bit shy, I'm looking for my words, but out there it's like anything goes. What happens at the ski hill stays at the ski hill. I had that last little boy, Noam, I caught him near the end of the day and he was struggling with some turns on the bunny hill and the first run he didn't want to hold my hand, he didn't want to stick his hands up, he thought he looked silly. Then I showed him and then we went up on the chairs and put in practise what he saw on one run on the bunny hill and it worked and you should have seen his smile. That's pay enough for me
TINA:
Yeah, he definitely sounds like a great instructor. So, those are the practical reasons... the magic carpet and the teachers. What’s the more philosophical one?
ELLEN:
It partly has to do with Joanna Barnowski, she owns the ski hill. Sandy says Joanna gets it. She understands what OuiCanSki is trying to do. She’s the daughter of immigrants... Her father was a ski champion in Poland...
TINA:
Oh that’s amazing.
ELLEN:
I know. And he was even a ski lift engineer. So that brought him to the Rawdon region of Quebec, where he eventually opened his own ski hill in 1969. Ski Montcalm. I spoke with Joanna, standing near the magic carpet and watching the newcomers take a few runs:
JOANNA BARNOWSKI
Well, you know our ski hill was founded by our father who is from Poland, a very passionate skier from Poland. So, the immigrant story for us is very, very familiar. I grew up here, I was born and raised here, so skiing is second nature for me. But for my dad who grew up in Poland, he came from a completely different country and he set himself up. He built this from scratch. So he started it in 1969, the ski hill. Myself and my brother we've been running it for 15 years, so we're just keeping this... keeping it going. You know, we love skiing, we love to see families ski. We're at our fourth generation of skiers here, so we see great grandparents bringing their... It's really, really cool. We know that a lot of these participants here are new to our province, so we want to make sure they they get introduced to it, and hopefully they'll keep skiing as well.
ELLEN:
She did also point out that the magic carpet is heated, so people can get a break from the cold between runs.
TINA:
I can see the appeal of that, especially if you’ve got newcomers from places like Israel and Brazil.
ELLEN
But even for me Tina, it was like, cold.
TINA
Absolutely! And you were there recording, but did you ski also?
ELLEN:
I did! A bit challenging to stay up on skis, hold my recording gear... But it worked out nicely, and it was really great to be able to speak to participants in the middle of everything.
I met a woman by the bunny hill who was just starting out... but was feeling ambitious.
VERONICA:
I really want to try, I really hope I'll remember it, and then I'll take a big ride from the biggest mountain here. Yeah, so my name is Veronica, hi!
So, I was born in Belarus, but when I was 18, I moved to Israel, and a year and a half I came here.
ELLEN:
It was actually Veronica’s birthday the day before, and this was like a magical present for her.
VERONICA:
Okay, I'm basically in heaven. Everything is white. I see lots of snow, lots of people skiing, skating. I don't know, snowy mountain with a lot of snowy, snowy pines. Yeah, I am not a big literature person, but I don't know, I just feel like I'm in some Christmas movie. Yeah, Christmas Hallmark movie.
TINA:
I love that she compares it to a Hallmark movie!
ELLEN:
I could totally see it too. It was sunny, cold but not that cold, a bit of snow flying in the air... just a really gorgeous day to be on skis.
TINA:
How did Sandy feel about the day? Did she think it was a success, despite that two-hour bus wait?
ELLEN:
For sure. She said the best part of it for her is to see all the smiling faces. She only has one regret....
TINA:
What’s that?
ELLEN:
So as this event becomes more popular, she’s not always able to get to know all the participants individually anymore.
That makes sense.
She spends more time you know organizing, managing, making sure things are all ready to go for the volunteers like the food, and that means a lot less time just chatting with the newcomers.
But at the end of the day, I caught up with Isabelle again... she was the woman from Brazil who hoped she wouldn’t fall down too much...
TINA:
And how did she do?
ELLEN:
OK. So she said she took a couple of nasty falls, but she still had a great time. She found if she worried too much about falling, she actually fell more... so she tried not to do that.
Isabelle said it was really nice, and a day to remember, so I asked her if she had any advice for other newcomers who might be thinking of trying skiing or snowboarding.
ISABELLE:
Oh, they’ve got to try it. They’ve got to at least once, you know. Like, I've tried both skiing and snowboarding and I really like both of them, and it's something, I think... Like for the winter here, since it's a very long winter, we’ve got to like have something to make it enjoyable and all that, and this is definitely something that makes it very enjoyable.
TINA:
Perfect. That’s exactly what Sandy would want to hear.
ELLEN:
It is. Of course, she wants newcomers to learn to ski and embrace winter, but she’s got another motive too. A couple of them actually. I’ll let her describe them.
SANDY WOLOFSKY:
I have two taglines. One is: help our ski hills look like our Metros. Because our Metros are very diverse and our ski hills are way too lily white. But my other tagline is this: You came here as a family, go out and do your activities as a family. The problem with skating and the problem with hockey is new immigrants have been sold on the idea that everybody has to learn to play hockey. Well, you take your kid, you put them in hockey. And you stand there and you do nothing. How does that bring you together as a family? You have spent all week working, and now you're going to spend your spare time standing in an arena doing nothing. So my logic is, you spent all week working hard. You have a few hours, maybe on a Saturday or maybe on Sunday. You want to spend it with your family. You want to go out with your family. So, my idea is, I will teach everybody from ages three to 93 how to enjoy themselves on the slopes. And that way, they can go out as a family, they can be together, and they can enjoy this winter sport, and Canada as winter - we are winter -together, and that's why skiing.
TINA:
That’s so interesting. Skiing not just as a way of getting into winter activities, but a way to bring families together.
ELLEN:
I know. I really liked that too, and I could see it when I was there. Like that clip we heard at the start with Sara, who was so proud of her toddler and his snowboarding.
TINA:
I’m also really struck by that comment she made about the Montreal Metro. Did she say anything more about that?
ELLEN:
She did. She thinks that it’s important that ski hills become more diverse, so that more people can feel welcome there.
SANDY WOLOFSKY:
Let's face it, skiing is a sport that has not been embraced by minorities.
As someone who has travelled a lot, I feel really comfortable on a Metro, because I feel like the diversity of Montreal exists on our Metros. And when I go to a ski hill, I do not see that diversity.
I would love to see the same diversity that I can see walking in downtown Montreal right here on our ski slopes. Not only would it diversify the sport that I love most and help it continue into the future, but it would just be a better representation of both our province and our country to see a much more diverse population on our ski hills.
TINA:
Making the ski hills look more like the subway, and getting newcomers out to have fun, bringing families together... those are all such great goals. Ellen, thank you so much for bringing us this story... and for being intrepid enough to take your recording gear out onto the ski hill with you.
ELLEN:
It’s my pleasure. I had a lot of fun.
MUSIC BRIDGE
TINA:
If you are looking for more stories to discover, you can head to our website where there are hundreds of oral histories related to Canadian immigration that the Museum has been recording since 1998.
The Collection helps us learn about immigration through first-person accounts and memories.
Ugandan Asian refugee Mario DeMello came to Canada in 1972, leaving his home after the exclusion edict of dictator Idi Amin.
Mario’s early introduction to Canadian life included getting involved in organized field hockey, which was key in helping him build connections through sport.
TAKE Oral History AUDIO:
It was everything. Because I played it before, back in Uganda. So playing it here meant I now met fifteen, sixteen, new people. And after the game we’d go to the pub, you know, have a beer, have a steak, or burgers or whatever. And you’d argue about the rules and things like that, so you get to know each other really well. And in fact, the first time I ever had chilli, was once somebody said, “Come out to my place for supper.” And I had chilli, and so now I make that too. So, you build some close friends that way.
And when you travel to international championships you know I’m not sure if it was in Calgary or Vancouver then, you all stayed in a hotel, you shared rooms, you know. So, you build a strong bond there.
TINA:
Today, the Oral History Collection has grown to over 1,300 audio and video recorded interviews with immigrants, refugees, settlement workers and Canadian-born individuals with a link to immigration. The Collection helps us learn about immigration through first-person accounts and memories.
Head to Pier21.ca to discover more oral histories.
And if you aren’t already following us on your favorite podcast app, be sure to hit follow and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
MUSIC
Thanks for listening to Countless Journeys, brought to you by the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 at the Halifax Seaport. This season of Countless Journeys is presented by Air Canada, Canada's airline for welcoming newcomers home.
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