This site north of the village of La Riviere in the Municipality of Pembina was the original location of ski slopes developed in the early 1930s, on land owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway, by local entrepreneur Ida Barclay. Beginning in 1934, regular trains brought Winnipeggers to the site for a day of skiing. The last ski-train ran in 1953. The slopes were abandoned in favour of the present ones along highway 3, opened by Barclay’s grandson Noel Later in 1959. The former ski runs are now mostly overgrown although rope tow frames and a sign labelling one of the slopes as “Calamity Jane” are still present.
Aerial view of the former site of the La Riviere ski slopes with the abandoned railway line at left and the present ski slopes at right rear (July 2016)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
One of the former ski slopes (May 2015)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
The base of the ski slopes, with the abandoned rail line at left (May 2015)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
The abandoned rail line that once brought skiers to the site, now used by all-terrain recreational vehicles (May 2015)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.24993, W98.67986
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Ida Virginia Burns Barclay (1877-1935)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Mary Jane Valley Railway Bridge #1 (Mary Jane Creek, Municipality of Pembina)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Mary Jane Valley Railway Bridge #2 (Mary Jane Creek, Municipality of Pembina)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Mary Jane Valley Railway Bridge #3 (Mary Jane Creek, Municipality of Pembina)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Abandoned Manitoba
Turning Leaves: A History of La Riviere and District by LaRiviere Historical Book Society, c1979, pages 93-95, 116-117. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5649.L38Tur]
This page was prepared by Chris Thompson and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 30 April 2021
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