Batawa Ski Hill — Attraction in Quinte West

I rarely write reviews however I felt overly compelled in this case. For starters I feel like a victim who has been taken advantage during a very precarious time of COVID.

I live in Hamilton with family in the Belleville area. I decided to plan a weekend family trip to see our family who we haven’t seen since last summer (this was supposed to be Christmas). With that, we decided to book last minute rentals and ski passes to Batawa for the four of us, to allow our kids and us to get back to some sence of “normal” (and we aren’t even skiers/boarders!!!).

We booked approx one week prior AND we had to Prepay on-line for EVERYTHING (covid protocols). I learned three days before our trip (last Tuesday) that our family in Belleville had been diagnosed with Covid, effectively cancelling our trip as we would have no place to stay.

Needless to say we sent an email explaining our position to the Batawa Ski Resort and were bluntly told that they could only refund the rental cost but not the ski pass. They advised that the ski industry took a hit during covid with cancellations and thus needed to keep our money (as per their policy) because we didn’t cancel within 24 hours; (here is an exert from their Email);

“We noticed that when people missed the 24-hour notice policy, far too many of them would email back (after the fact) back pedal and say they had symptoms and could not come to the hill. We also noticed that there was an EXTEREMLY HIGHY volume of these late requests on any day (which was a lot of days) that the weather was less than “ideal”. Of course we cannot prove that people are abusing the system but things add up; people tell me stuff, people back pedal, people try to use different emails and names to transfer the same tickets. It becomes very transparent. Of course there are also legit scenarios and that is why we allow tickets to be transferred (outside of our policy) in covid/symptom cases.”

Here is the kicker… I sent an email canceling well beyond the 24 hour window!!! On Wednesday 23 February at 4:56pm… I sent an email 2 days prior yet some how they are saying they can refund… essentially because;

1. We may be scamming the system
2. Batawa has already lost too much revenue and need to recoup their losses with absurd refund policies.
3. It’s much easier and cost efficient to let the little people take the loss for the industries

Will I get my money refunded? Only time will tell… however I thought this review should be posted to ensure that no other families get taken advantage of with off-side policies that take money right out of families pockets to ensure companies and business don’t go into the red… but what about the families In the red who are struggling like us to get out of the negative… who try and do good things like supporting small business and local...

My 12 year old daughter just returned in tears from the worst first ever ski experience at Batawa Ski Hill - and she's a tough cookie who learned to ride her bike completely on her own without anyone's assistance. Her ski instructor ignored her completely, even telling her to "figure it out yourself" when she was asking how to do basics - I thought that's what we paid for lessons for! The lessons didn't cover fundamental skills like traversing sideways uphill or how to use the lift. Classes were combined to a single instructor instead of allotting sensible numbers of students to each instructor. The instructor yelled at bewildered kids who didn't receive training to do what they were being told to do. In the end, the instructor just abandoned her without giving her instructions for what to do next, where to go next, nor the color badge indicating her skill level that she was supposed to earn with the paid lessons to use the lifts. As a result, she couldn't even make use of the lift ticket we purchased as part of her ski trip, and was left to her own devices on the bunny hill all day. I've been skiing since I was 3 years old and have never seen such ski school incompetence, indifference and disorganization at any ski hill I have ever been to. Shame on you Batawa!! I would not recommend this dinky little ski hill to anyone - go to a real ski resort, like Calabogie, Pakenham, Eidelweiss, Snow Ridge, Blue Mountain or anywhere else where they have properly trained ski instructors who know what they're doing and give your kids a great first time experience that will make them want to go skiing again and again - instead of this kind of miserable experience and wasted...

We had a fantastic first ski at Batawa Ski Hill.

If you haven't been skiing before, this might just be the place for you. And it especially is for the kids. They have a First Timers ski package, which my wife and kids took full advantage of. It included 4 hours of skiing and a 1 hour lesson. The only caveat is that the lift ticket is only for the beginner hill, not the chairlift. They do offer an upgrade, which is totally worth the cost if you decide that you've learned enough and can handle the tougher slopes.

It's definitely not the biggest hill, so experts be advised that this is not going to fulfill your requirements. That is unless you're working on your jumps or a new skill like snowboarding, which I had the pleasure of trying out and ate snow most of the time.

The staff are very friendly. Checking into the hill was quick with only a couple people in line. Getting ski rentals was smooth and once again the staff were friendly and helpful and patient with the kids.

They have a pretty decent cafe with a great selection of food at reasonable prices.

And don't miss out on roasting marshmallows on the weekend and Wedness hot chocolate.

It is a bit of a drive from Toronto, but if you can handle the time, the cost savings for a first time ski or snowboard day are worth it.

Have fun and don't forget to wear...