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- oy - Fa > xh The winter weather may we be fine for motorists or those ad who hate the sight of snow, Gig but many ski resort A operators in southern Ont- et ario are almost at the point Sai of desperation. bt! Christa Marton, owner of ie! the Dagmar Ski Resort southwest of Port Perry, confirmed published reports that ski operators have already lost as much as one-third of their annual income because of the lack of white stuff on the slopes so far this winter. "We have had poor years in the past, but nothing to compare to this," Mrs. Marton told the Star in an interview last Saturday. While Dagmar was able to have skiers on three hills over the weekend because of the man-made snow machines, Saturday was a far cry from a normal week- end in January when as many as 1,000 enthusiasts would be on the 15 downhill runs at the resort on Regional Road 23. Hardest hit has been the cross-country skiing at Dagmar where the 25 km of trails have not one inch of snow on them. "On a good Saturday, we would have about 1,000 cross- country skiers out on the trails," said Mrs. Marton. She added that Dagmar has 400 complete cross- country ski rental outfits, and so far this season, not one pair of skis has been rented out. The hard part this season has been the almost total loss of business during the Christmas school break. Under normal conditions, as many as 1,000 people each day during the holidays would be on the trails and slopes at Dagmar, account- ing for one-third of the resort's yearly income during this period alone. The system for producing man-made snow at Dagmar has helped to bring out some skiers since the first week in December. "But there has been a psychological problem as well," says Mrs. Marton. "We may have had fairly good ski conditions here, but people living in Toronto just wouldn't want to believe it when they looked out their windows and saw no snow at all. : ""Also, the kind of weather we have had just didn't put people in the mood for skiing', she added. However, now that the snow has started to fall in this area, avid skiers may start feeling a little desper- ate themselves about the skiing they have missed so far this year. So the resort operators could recover some of their losses over the next couple of months. The snow making system - at Dagmar certainly has given that resort an advant- age over others, but Mrs. Marton says it is expensive to operate. "We have spent about $15,000 so far this season making snow," she said. The up and down tempera- tures in December wiped out 8 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Wed., January 9, 1980 LACK OF SNOW HURTS SKI OPERATIONS Limited skiing on man-made three different batches of the man-made snow. And the snow was impossible to make during the normally busy Christmas break because of the above freez- ing temperatures. Although this is the worst season in the 14 years Dagmar has been in operation, last year was not the best either. Ice storms in January cut into business, and an intense cold snap the next month did the same thing. The off season last year and the near wipe-out so far this year come at a time when Dagmar has under- taken an expensive program to improve the facilities. The resort spent $130,000 last summer for a new chair lift, has expanded the restaurant and parking areas and brought in very expensive heavy earth- moving machinery to build up some of the hills. Mrs. Marton says Dagmar had to do this because skiers, are demanding the very best facilities and conditions, and the competition among resorts is keen. Despite the dismal start to this year's ski season, Mrs. Marton says she is optimistic about the future, and there is absolutely no question about Dagmar being sold or going bankrupt. "The popularity of skiing has taken off in the past few GR The machines for making man-made s snow on Dagmar slopes years, and Dagmar is in an excellent location close to large centres of population," she explained. And Dagmar has been chosen to host the provincial cross-country champion- ships February 17 and 18. Nevertheless, the lack of snow has been a major disappointment affecting all aspects of the operation. Rather than risk laying off staff and losing them for the season, Dagmar has asked their employees to work shorter hours. But even if there are only a few skiers on the slopes, workers are necessary and they have to be paid. While resort operators are hoping to be able to recover some of their losses in January and February, the situation across the province is so bad that the Ontario Ski Resorts Association is reported to be making a request for $10 million in financial assistance from the provincial government. Last Saturday morning, there were quite a few skiers on the three hills which had at least a foot of the man- made snow. The chair lift and tows were operating, and the weather was crisp and cold under clear skies. But aside from the man- made stuff, there wasn't one flake of snow on the other hills and trails, and that's what hurts. 3 > a now have been working overtime at Dagmar recently because of the lack of the real stuff this year. But it is an expensive process and last month, mild temperatures wiped out three different batches. Skiers and their equipment were a little more plentiful last Saturday at Dagmar, but season so far has been dismal. N