Bridging the Gap at Nitehawk

Ginger Dumais took up skiing again to bond with her teen son Aiden.

After all, it had been more than 20 years since she last tried sliding downhill on snow — snowboarding as a teenager — and her last attempt hadn’t gone so well. It’s surprising how enduring those memories can be for adults, preventing us from taking risks or trying something new or unfamiliar. But getting past those mental barriers usually comes with a reward or incentive, as it did in Dumais' case.

“My son loves snowboarding, and I really wanted something I could do with him,” she says. “To bond with a teenage boy, you often have to do what they want to do … that was the main reason. And it’s better than Fortnite.”

Dumais finally plucked up her courage, threw her son Aiden and his friend Dane in the car and drove out to Nitehawk Year-Round Adventure Park, bringing us (almost) back to the present moment.

Learning some basic skills with an instructor helped Ginger regain her confidence on the slopes. 

As Dumais and the boys arrived, the Adventure Camp office (where ski lesson groups meet) was buzzing. Kids were pairing off with instructors, bright and obvious in their standard-issue red jackets, parents milling around.

First opened in 1960, the community-owned and operated ski area lays claim to being the largest non-mountain ski area in northern Alberta. It boasts nine runs, a mogul patch, two terrain parks, and a tube park, serviced by a triple chair, platter lift and two magic carpets, as well as a classic A-frame lodge with recent expansions, thanks to a legacy from hosting the Arctic Winter Games in 2010. With about 170 metres of vertical, Nitehawk offers a step up in scale and challenge for skiers and snowboarders in the region and is about a 1.5-hour drive from Dawson Creek, and just 10 minutes from Grande Prairie.

Ginger Dumais gets the hang of skiing pretty quickly, even though she was a bit nervous. 

Dumais' instructor, Amy, welcomed the trio and got to work. First the old one-ski push, and then on to the bunny hill to practice snowplowing and stopping. Dumais' first slides were shaky, and Aiden wasn’t so keen on hanging out on the magic carpet. But after a morning of coaching, Dumais’ confidence and ability had grown. Then came the big test, that top to bottom run down Willo-way.

So there she is, mid-plunge, staring down the very moment that might end her comeback and doom her to bonding over Fortnite… and something clicks. She holds her balance until the slope levels off, regains her composure, and cruises the rest of the way to the chairlift. Not bad at all, for her first time in over 20 years. “It was really nerve-wracking, kind of scary at first but it wasn’t as hard as I was expecting,” she says. “It was fun."

Instructor Amy and Ginger call the day a success.

And although Aiden is playing it cool, it has no doubt dawned on him that he has just seen his mom face her fears, and take a risk or two, all to spend time with him. It’s not always easy to connect with your teenage children, but from the smiles all around, this was a win for mom.