Blue Mountain is an alpine ski resort in Ontario, Canada, 10 km west 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. The local area forms the newly incorporated town of The Blue Mountains, 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.[1] It is one of the largest resorts in Ontario and has been extensively built out, featuring 42 runs, 16 chairlifts and 3 freestyle terrains.

Established in 1941, the ski resort was later transformed into a year-round resort in 1977. From 1999 to 2007, the resort was under the majority-ownership of Intrawest. During its ownership, the resort underwent major renovations including the installation of high-speed lifts, and a new residential village at the base of the resort. The resort is owned by Alterra Mountain Company after it bought Intrawest in 2017.

History
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.[2] 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.


Weider Lodge are lodgings named after Jozo Weider, the founder of Blue Mountain.
In 1948 Weider signed an agreement with the Toronto Ski Club and the Blue Mountain Ski club, giving them a 99 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.[3]

Improving economics combined with dramatically improved ski equipment turned skiing into a major sport for the first time in the 1960s. To serve the growing market, a new twenty room Inn was opened near the Ski Barn. In 1966 Weider sold Blue Mountain Pottery and used the money to fund a major expansion, adding three double chairs and replacing the Barn with the new "Central Base Lodge". Weider died in 1971, before the mountain was fully developed. After his death control passed to his son, George. George later became Chairman, and passed day-to-day management to Jozo's son-in-law, Gordon Canning.

The 1970s were a period of major expansion. In 1973 a major snowmaking system was installed, and a ski rental/repair facility was added to the Base Lodge, while a new South Base Lodge wbuilt to spread out the facilities. By the end of the decade there were 17 lifts serving the hill; 3 triple chairs, 5 double chairs, 6 Pomas, one T-bar and a rope tow.

In 1977 they added the Blue Mountain Slide Ride ("Alpine Slide Ride" in recent documents) in order to provide summer income.