High Park Ski ClubBoard of Directors
 |
Stella Rossovskaia During my journey with the club, I've progressed in downhill skiing from Level 0 to 007 – starting with the beginner chair at Mount St. Louis-Moonstone to conquering Les Trois Vallées, France – the world's largest ski area. I've learned to ski, mostly during overnight bus trips, thanks to lessons from our amazing instructors. I volunteered for the club's Long Trips Committee after my first trip and continue to work with the awesome team and lead overnight trips. Every year, I make dozens of new friends and my social and professional network is constantly growing. This is very important to me as new Canadian. In 2014, I was elected social director. During my first, two-year term, I organized the club's 65th anniversary celebrations. In my day paid job my role is Continuous Improvement Lead in the Information Technology in the Bank. So my professional skills are to analyze the data, systems, processes and to find the opportunities to improve. I am applying my skills to the club's volunteering roles. Keep calm and celebrate winters, which are too short with our club! |
 |
Mary Macdonald I joined High Park in 2000 to see if downhill skiing was something I would like to do again. I have never looked back since my first day with High Park. The lessons have always been amazing. I signed up for a series and kept coming back week after week. By good fortune, there were members in my class who shared the same enthusiasm for the sport as I did. Every week, series after series, we took lessons together and then skied and practised together in the afternoons. Eventually, we started taking club trips together. Today, these people are very good friends and, of course, ski companions. A few years ago, I also took up snowshoeing. If you regularly participate in club activities, you will get to know lots of people as well as the club’s routines. My friends and I started out volunteering as bus captains. That led to becoming trip leaders and eventually being involved with the Snow School and the Board of Directors. I became the administration director in 2006. It seemed the right thing to do – a natural step in giving back to a club that continues to give me so much enjoyment. |
 |
Niamh Marsh I joined High Park Ski Club in 2013 when I received a flyer in the mail about the club. Little did I know then how important the club would become to me and how many friends I would make. Over the years I've gotten to ski various terrain and resorts through the multitude of ski trips and locations offered. I've also greatly improved my skiing through the free lessons on day and weekend trips. I have yet to tackle cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, but they're on my to-do list! Being part of High Park Ski Club has definitely made me love Winter. Learning that the club was run by volunteers, and seeing the great work they were doing, inspired me to help too. I started by volunteering on the Social committee, and then became the club's Facebook Admin. As Director of Communications, I hope to help spread the word about our awesome club to entice new members to join, and to ensure current members are kept in the loop through all communication channels on the club's activities. As a Project Manager by trade, I'm excited to lend my communication, organisation and leadership skills to this role. |
 |
Erika Clark When I moved to Toronto in 2017 I decided I wanted to learn to ski, and to meet new people, so I chose to join HPSC. I immediately felt at home and that I had created a new family of friends within the club. I began volunteering as a bus captain on downhill day trips and since then have also been a trip leader on the recent weekend Mount Tremblant trip, as well as volunteering in other capacities with the club. As Director of Alpine Daytrips my goal is to grow the number of members who participate in downhill day trips by continuing to welcome and support new members and to spread awareness about the club, as well as encouraging more current members to get out on the slopes regularly through our day trips. I also plan on expanding the number of bus captains so that the responsibilities are shared by more members and provide support for each other. My desire is that every member looks as forward to, and enjoys, as much as I do going on a HPSC day trip. Joining HPSC is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I began as a new skier and have now travelled around Ontario, and Canada, enjoying the best of winter skiing with my HPSC friends. Becoming involved as a volunteer has led to many wonderful opportunities. I encourage all members to get involved in any way they can! |
  |
Bill Bates I joined High Park many years ago to meet new friends who were interested in outdoor sports. I found tennis friends, golf friends, running friends and best of all ski friends. High Park taught me how to ski in my early days with the club. I paid close attention to those excellent lessons because I eventually became an instructor. I loved going on the long trips and very soon became a volunteer to help plan and organize them. Organizing trips is now my passion. I want our club to have the best trips, the best value and the most fun. I have met many wonderful people volunteering this way and hope to continue for many more years. We have built a Long Trips Committee of 10 like-minded members who volunteer their talent and many hours of their time so that all members have a good reason to join the club to go on a High Park long trip. |
 |
Colin Marsh Although Winter sports are not a big thing in my native Ireland, for obvious reasons, my interest was sparked during time spent in Grenoble, France while at University. It took a couple more years to finally get on my first snowboard but I haven't looked back since, travelling extensively throughout resorts in Europe and North America. I am a member of HPSC since 2013 and enjoy the access it provides to both local as well as far flung mountains, at a great price. The fact that I have met many great people through the social aspect of the Club is an added bonus. I bring 20 years of professional marketing experience across multiple companies, industries and countries to the board of High Park Ski Club and I'm looking forward to helping tell the great story that is HPSC. |
 |
Jennifer McLennan HPSC was a life changer for me. I have made so many new friends, and have improved my quality of life! I am surrounded by like-minded, active people who like the outdoors. There's always something going on and someone to do it with. As Social Director, I would like to engage more members at our socials through a variety of activities. I want to do a little of a lot. We're going to try a lot of things that will appeal to the diversity of likes within the club. I don't actually have any formal experience in this role. However, anyone who knows me knows that being social is an innate quality for me. I'm very organized and an effective communicator, which I feel are both good qualities when trying to organize social activities for large groups. |
 |
Ruth Schefter I am your new Director of Membership for HPSC. I have been a member of the club for about 5 years, and am an avid skier. |
 |
Heather Steel I discovered the club in 2011 and haven't looked back! I live outdoors in the summer and was looking for something to keep me active and having fun in the winter. I found the club online, and, having never XC skied before, I took the plunge and joined. The 2011 Scenic Caves New Year's Eve trip was my first experience; I remember tons of snow and a very friendly welcome…and I was hooked! Since then, XC skiing has become my primary winter activity, a sport I could not imagine living without, and the reason why winter is my favourite season. In 2013, I became race director, a role I still hold, and in 2018, I passed my CANSI Level 1 and became an instructor. Joining the club has been an amazing experience in more ways than I could have imagined, with wonderful friendships formed and new skills developed (I can finally skate ski!). With everything the club has given me in the past 7 years, it's important to me to give back and help us continue the amazing work we do. I am particularly proud of the XC side for developing a fun and supportive community of skiers. It's my goal as director to continue developing that community, working with the board to introduce new people to XC skiing and growing the volunteer ranks of the XC community. A project manager in my day job, I bring the leadership and organizational skills necessary for this type of role, combined with a tireless love (or, some might say, obsession) with XC skiing. See you on the trails! |
 |
Christine Bellerose Even though I grew up in Québec City and did some skiing there as a teenager, it is when I joined High Park Ski Club fourteen years ago that skiing became the focus of my winters. At first, I simply enjoyed those bus rides to MSLM and Blue, taking fun and challenging classes where I made so many friends! When every one of my winter holidays became a ski holiday with HPSC, I became a Trip Leader and then joined the Long Trip Committee to help plan those exciting vacations! As my skiing progressed, thanks to committed High Park instructors, I took the Instructor Training provided by HPSC, then my CSIA qualifications and joined our Snow School. I have now been a ski instructor for seven years and active as Director of the Snow School for the past two years. I am very proud to work with dedicated ski and snowboard instructors who are committed to their own training and to the improvement of all HPSC members. Let's continue to enjoy our snowy winters while having fun together on and off the hills!! |
 |
Daina Lu I joined HPSC in 2016 with a hope of taking lessons to enhance my snowboarding skills. Soon after I began as a volunteer in finance because that is what I knew from my working experience. As a new member I found the job daunting, but the long-term volunteer board members made my job easy and fun. Outside of my work for the club, I have already learned a lot more from them: not only about how to run a club, but also on how to snowboard! I was really impressed about the level of skill and general knowledge, and I really enjoyed listening to the stories people tell. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming in HPSC! By taking lessons with the club on day trips and long trips, I improved my snowboarding skills so fast. I was on the bunny hill in 2015 and now I can go down black diamonds. My favorite place to snowboard (so far) is Mont Tremblant, but Edelweiss is a close second. I haven’t been to Banff to snowboard yet, so I am really looking forward to our Banff trip with the club this year! |
 |
Lisa Ziegler I’ve been downhill skiing with the HPSC since 2010 and being with the club has certainly changed my perspective about winter! The free lessons are one of the best parts of the day; it is great way to meet ski buddies at the same level and the lessons have certainly improved my technique and confidence. My favorite part of the club though is the people - everyone is very warm and welcoming and I have made some wonderful friends that share my love of winter. After being a member for many years, I am now looking forward to giving back in my first year as IT Co-Director. Our first project will be the HPSC Web Site Refresh. Let it snow and see you on the slopes! |
|
Eileen McNally |