Grey Mountain Grind Memories

[Ira McAulay] Well no, I think the only thing competition was the Grey Mountain Grind. That was a competition there was Rossland men in that and Trail fellas skiing in that too. That was from the top of Grey Mountain down into Rossland.

[Roly Worsfold] That’s right. And from what I understand, Louie, you raced it in the last year.

[Louie Corrado] Yes.

[Roly Worsfold] That’s okay. Were you around, too?

[Ira McAulay] No, I never did race it.

[Roly Worsfold] Okay. Can you tell us how – how that race went and what year that might have been?

[Louie Corrado] That was 1946. I came out of the Army. That was the last year. It’s usually in the spring of the year. I don’t remember the exact date. You’d have to hike up that day to the top of Grey.

[Roly Worsfold] From?

[Louie Corrado] From Rossland. Downtown Rossland. You left Rossland early in the morning and you hiked up to the top of Grey. When all the contestants were there, they started the race.

[Ken Davis] Well, like I was saying, my brother was in that. They would go up on Saturday nights and stay overnight so they didn’t wear the legs out hiking in on Sunday morning. Well, Don Swift and I would get up early Sunday morning and we’d hike up and get to the cabin, and then we’d load all these too-big pack sacks up with stuff that they wanted us to bring back down for them. But we’d hike right up to Old Eternity Rock on Grey, and ski from there all the way out home and then still be on – over here by Esling Park Lodge to watch the racers come home.

[Beryl Davis] I asked when I was young, first married, how these things went. How did you do this? But Ken was about 12 when he did that. And this is what these youngsters who are too young to take part in the race, keyed up to know everything about it, wanting to help. And what they did is – what would you say? They were – preset the course. And I said, well, like, what’s the course like? I’m a groomed hill skier. I know it wasn’t groomed like that. He said fallen trees all over.

[Ken Davis] It was just like this.

[Roly Worsfold] Yeah, yeah.

[Beryl Davis] Like that. And anyone that was not taking part in the race had to leave by a certain time. And they travelled the trail that the skiers would do. And I don’t know what the other officials did to preset the course. 

[Roly Worsfold] Right.

[Louie Corrado] A little anecdote on my race was, my equipment wasn’t very good. And I lost my ski coming off Grey. But I did put on my ski and finish the race.

[Ken Davis] It timed – they got. The reason it was – how it was timed is somebody had an old-fashioned battery radio and they packed it to the top of Grey Mountain. Then when CJAT station, they were in touch with them, and then they would say, “It is now 1:00.” So the guy with their stopwatch went off at 1:00, went off at 1:01, and every minute they let somebody go. And that’s how the time worked.

[Roly Worsfold] Wow, okay, yeah, yeah.

[Ken Davis] Because it wasn’t-

[Roly Worsfold] Makes sense.

[Ken Davis] -what they have today. And that’s how it worked.

[Roly Worsfold] Okay.