The Cyclist - Metal Sculpture at Blue Mountain

Georgian Bay at Blue Mountain

View of Georgian Bay, 

from Blue Mountain, Ontario, Canada.

Jozo Weider

JOZO WEIDER Boulevard

Blue Mountain Village, Ontario, Canada

Born in Zhilina in 1908, in the eastern or Slovak part of Czechoslovakia, Jozo Weider's
destiny would forever be linked to mountain environments when, in his early 20s, he built
an isolated chalet in the Carpathian mountains. It would remain his home throughout the
1930s and from which he was able to earn a living as an innkeeper, mountain guide and
photographer. In 1939, Weider took a trip to Britain to promote tourism for his resort. He
was still in Britain when the Germans invaded Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1939. An
urgent telegram to his wife enabled her to leave the country with their one year-old son
and join him in England where they applied for status as political refugees. In the summer
of 1939, they emigrated to Canada and to a hard life as settlers in what was then the
frontier settlement of the Peace River.
Later that year, he travelled east, to Quebec where he found work as a ski instructor at the
Chateau Frontenac. A year later, after deciding to return to the ski business, he moved
back to Quebec with his family to teach for another season at the Alpine Inn in Ste.
Marguerite. It was there that he met Peter Campbell, later appointed to the Senate, who
was involved in the development of the ski area at Collingwood, Ontario. He would become
Jozo Weider's financial partner and backer throughout most of Jozo's career. Arriving in
Collingwood in the spring of 1941, Jozo Weider's legendary enthusiasm and capacity for
hard work were quickly confirmed; it was perhaps inevitable that Collingwood's Blue
Mountain would become one of Canada's largest and most dynamic ski areas with 28 trails
and 15 lifts on 800 acres of escarpment land.
Shortly after his death in 1971, the Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin noted in its October
6th, 1971 edition, "There are very few men who are born with the gift of vision,
perseverance and physical ability which this undertaking (Collingwood) required." it would
go on to say, "It has always been difficult to consider Jozo a Canadian...He was a citizen of
the world, in mind, in knowledge and in experience. However, he was one of the greatest
promoters of Canadian life that we will ever know, He was good to Collingwood, and he
was good for Collingwood. He influenced out thinking, swayed our opinions and often
influenced our decisions...but he never led them astray...It is doubtful if the complete
contribution to Collingwood and district, and its people, will ever be known."
To those thoughts might be added that Jozo Weider's influence was not restricted to
Collingwood but also to the larger arena of international skiing traceable through the
exploits of well-known Canadian alpine competitors who grew up on the mountain, Todd
Brooker, Liisa Savijarvi, Kellie Casey and the legendary Ernie McCulloch, Director of the Ski
School, in particular.
(The history of the Blue Mountain ski area has been thoroughly documented by Jozo Weider's son,
George, in his publication Blue Mountain, published by The Boston Mill Press, 1990)

Historic Snowbridge

Quarter Moon over Blue Mountain, Ontario Canada.

Quarter Moon at Snowbridge Way, Blue Mountain, Ontario, Canada.

Snowbridge Way, Blue Mountain, Ontario, Canada

Optional Routes by Car

from Mississauga to Snowbridge Way,

Blue Mountain, Ontario, Canada.

View from Blue Mountain

Blue Mountain is an alpine ski resort in Ontario, Canada, just northwest of Collingwood. It is situated on a section of the Niagara Escarpment about 1 km (0.6 mi.) from Nottawasaga Bay, and is a major destination for skiers from southern Ontario. On average, Blue Mountain sells more than 750,000 lift tickets per year, making it the third-busiest ski resort in Canada, after Whistler-Blackcomb in British Columbia and Mont Tremblant in Quebec. It is one of the largest resorts in Ontario and has been extensively built out, featuring 42 runs, 16 chairlifts and 3 freestyle terrains. Majority-owned by Intrawest since 1999, the resort has recently undergone major renovations, including new high-speed lifts and a new "village" similar to those built at Tremblant and Whistler at its base. The local area forms the newly incorporated town of The Blue Mountains, Ontario. The resort is owned by Alterra Mountain Company after it bought Intrawest in 2017. ~ Wikipedia

View of Blue Mountain Village

Jozo Weider was born in Žilina in 1908, in what was then Austria-Hungary present day Slovakia. In his twenties, he built a ski chalet in the Carpathian mountains and lived as an innkeeper, mountain guide and photographer through the 1930s. He also travelled abroad to England to promote the chalet, and was on such a trip in 1939 when World War II began. He telegrammed his wife, Helena, who was still in Czechoslovakia to leave the country. She met Jozo in England with their son, and the family applied for political asylum. The entire family emigrated to Canada later that year, settling in Peace River, Alberta. Later that year Jozo travelled east, working a seasonal job at the Chateau Frontenac as a ski instructor. The next year he moved the entire family to Quebec, working at the Inn in Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson.

While working there he met Peter Campbell who was involved in developing ski areas in Collingwood, and the two started a partnership to develop Blue Mountain. Development started in 1941, with the Weider family moving into an existing farm at the base of the escarpment. The family farmed the fields around the base of the hill during the summers. Weider built a small chalet at what is now the north end of the hill, the "Blue Mountain Lodge", and started clearing trails by hand. A single lift consisted of two sleds pulled up the hill by a cable running on the ground and powered by a truck engine, serving three runs, "Schuss", "Granny" and "Kandahar'. At the time Collingwood was primarily a shipbuilding and apple growing region, and had limited tourist access via road, so the first skiers arrived via train at the nearby Craigleith station.

In 1948 Weider signed an agreement with the Toronto Ski Club and the Blue Mountain Ski club, giving them a 999 year lease for chalet areas just south of the Lodge. Later that year he purchased another 150-acre (0.61 km2) farm to the south, opening that area as the Apple Bowl. The next year the barn on the new land was turned into "The Ski Barn", and became the hill's primary day lodge, drawing the centre of the hill to the south. Weider later sold the Lodge, using the money to fund the purchase of a poma lift which replaced the original sleds between Schuss and Granny in 1955. In 1959 the "Old South Chair" opened at the extreme south end of the hill, the second chair lift in Ontario. The skiable area now covered the entire two and half mile frontage the hill still has to this day, although the most southern 50 acres (200,000 m2) have been closed for extended periods. During development Weider noticed that the soil was mostly clay, and started a hobby making ceramics, which later developed into Blue Mountain Pottery. ~ Wikipedia