North Canaan students get set to hit the ski slopes this season

NORTH CANAAN — Skiing. This time of year, folks are generally of two minds when they hear the word. Either they don’t want to be reminded winter’s cold and snow are on the way, or they can’t wait for the lifts to open.

At North Canaan Elementary School, it’s the latter, as students anticipate a ski program that almost made it off the ground last year. Then a seventh-grader, Matthew Perotti impressed the school board when he came to them with the idea late last year. They agreed that it would offer a healthy exercise opportunity, particularly for students who don’t play basketball.

As it turned out, the logistical challenges could have benefited from more planning time. What seemed to be a solid plan in February faltered when night skiing was no longer offered at Catamount Ski Area. And even though an impressive 70 students or so had signed up, Catamount wanted a guarantee of at least 100.

What they ended up with was a good start on a plan for this school year. Four sessions at Catamount are planned for Tuesdays in January. The program is open to the entire school. Students and chaperones, including supervising teacher Renee Slonaker, will travel by bus at the end of the school day.  Principal Rosemary Keilty said they were very happy with discounted lift ticket prices of $60 for all four sessions.