Cold weather, warm hearts, as four friends have met to ski together every winter for 34 years

By Louise Rachlis

The adventure began when the four women had eight children among them, the youngest two just toddlers, and another toddler was soon to join the crowd and make it nine.

Now, 34 years later, the children have all grown up, six are married, and there are five grand-children.   The youngest three children are each 34 years old, as their mothers look forward to their 35^th trip together!

The four longtime friends - Lynn Graham, Louise Archer, Mary Dawson and Mira Mossop - have been meeting up every winter to ski together, and haven’t missed a year, despite demanding schedules. All in their early to mid-70s, they celebrate milestone birthdays together too, usually with a lunch.

Mira and Lynn met through their husbands, who were friends. Lynn was friends with Peter Dawson from their CUSO days in Ghana; Louise knew Mary from university, and Mira from working at IBM. They are retired, except for Mary, who is Parliament’s Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

Back at the start of 1984, three duos began discussing “a little ladies’ getaway” to ski. “Two of us had toddlers, and one was about to adopt a child in the near future,” said Louise Archer, who provided the photos and much of the information for this story. “A winter ski weekend seemed like a perfect way to recover from the excitement of Christmas, with in-laws visiting and children home from school. We all appreciated the idea of fresh air and exercise.”

The three pairs soon decided to make it a foursome and take their first trip to Hovey Manor in the Eastern Townships, particularly appropriate because three of the women had grown up in Montreal.

“Extreme cold challenged our first trip,” said Louise, who recalls skiing to another resort and asking if they could have hot chocolate to warm up. “The resort was not very accommodating as we were not staying there. Not my idea of customer satisfaction!”

Their destinations have varied from the Laurentians, Rigaud in west Quebec, to Lake Placid, Algonquin Park, and Montebello. “We all had busy lives, husbands who travelled, so this weekend was a relaxing respite from all the demands.”

 On the women’s weekends away, the four husbands soon started getting together for a video/pizza party with the nine children, and then they took them home to babysitters and went out for a gourmet dinner, joined by a fifth friend,  who also appreciated fine restaurants.

The four women looked forward to their meet-up every year. “We loved the skiing, good dinners, board games, and chance to catch up with each other’s lives. It is good to spend time with friends.”

There were years when one of them was stressed by an elderly parent having passed away, or in hospital, and the group was most supportive. “We’ve seen each other through broken bones, a divorce, a bout with cancer, children’s weddings, retirements, being widowed, and the ups and downs of life,” said Louise. “I certainly think of the weekend as one of the most predictable highlights of the year. Now we are more interested in any spa services offered, and will only ski in great conditions – warm enough, good snow, flattish trails. Incredibly, we have never had to cancel once a date was chosen.”

Their shared memories abound - “the year we missed the turn to Ottawa in a snow storm and went several miles out of our way as we played trivial pursuit in the car; the early years when we met for tea to discuss the timing and destination (now it just takes a couple of emails and phone calls); the dinners in St. Jovite where they played the same Zamfir tape about a dozen times during the meal;  the time in Ste. Adele when we had confusing trails we found a road and called a taxi to return us to the hotel before dark (the husbands never let us forget this move); staying at a former monastery where the monks’ rooms were so small we could barely open our suitcases; a dining room that had birds of prey – live! on a high shelf; the hosts who wouldn’t  give us a second piece of bread with our soup at lunch; the one and only time we trekked to Algonquin Park and were asked to take our sock clad feet off the rustic coffee table; our return to Hovey Manor when we celebrated our 20^th year by adding a third night, which happened to be Valentine’s Day and we were each given roses; and, celebrating our 30^th year by spending a week in St. Lucia where we swam daily instead of skiing.”

The families all recognize it as a venerable tradition, and as the women prepared for their 34^th meet-up, they were appreciative that their husbands all supported those adventures. The men too have established great friendships in the process.

“This is our sixth stay at Chateau Montebello, where the lobby is welcoming, the pool is an option, spa services are great, and best of all, one trail is flat. It is even rumoured that two or three forgot their skis at home.”