Vaughan to Blue Mountain and Collingwood

Vaughan to Blue Mountain and Collingwood: the ski weekend, without the drive

Blue Mountain is Vaughan's ski hill. Two hours from a Maple or Kleinburg driveway on a Friday evening, a condo in the Village or a chalet on the escarpment, two days on the Orchard and the Badlands, and the drive home on Sunday afternoon with everyone asleep — except the driver, who has done the 400 in the dark in January often enough to know why a chauffeur is worth it. The Luxury SUV, with winter tyres from November, a cargo bay for the skis and a roof for the rest, is the vehicle, and the trip is priced as a fixed fare each way from the exact address.

The two routes

The 400 route. From Maple, Concord, the VMC and Thornhill: the 400 north past Barrie to Highway 26 at Wasaga or via Horseshoe Valley Road, west through Stayner to Collingwood and the Village. 95 to 105 minutes off-peak; the 400 north on a Friday evening in ski season is slow from King City to Barrie, and 130 minutes is realistic.

The Highway 50 route. From Woodbridge and Kleinburg: Highway 50 north to Bolton, Airport Road north through Caledon and the Hockley Valley, Highway 124 to Singhampton and Highway 24 down the escarpment to Collingwood. 100 to 110 minutes, two-lane roads, spectacular in autumn, and the chauffeur's choice when the 400 is a car park. In snow the 400 is the safer road and the chauffeur says so.

The weekend, as two one-ways

Friday: pickup at six, the chauffeur loads six people and their gear, the Village by eight-thirty. Sunday: pickup at the condo at three, home by five-thirty. Two fixed fares from the reservation engine, each including the chauffeur's return, and no vehicle sitting idle on the mountain for two days at a day rate. For a group larger than six, the Executive Sprinter carries fourteen with a rear bay for the gear.

The car on the mountain

Some groups want a chauffeur for the weekend — the Village to Scenic Caves, to Thornbury for dinner, to the Scandinave Spa — and book by the day, with the chauffeur staying nearby. The day rate is lower than the hourly rate multiplied out, and it makes sense for a corporate retreat or a large family; ask through the contact page.

Summer and autumn

Blue Mountain is a summer resort too — the mountain biking, the Village, Wasaga Beach twenty minutes east, the Scenic Caves, Georgian Bay — and the Hockley Valley route in October is the reason people ask for the long way round. The Collingwood Elvis Festival, the Apple Harvest and the autumn colour weekends fill the Village; the Blue Mountain Resort site has the calendar and the travel desk books the condo.

Which vehicle

The Luxury SUV for up to six with gear — the right vehicle nine times in ten. The Sprinter for the bigger group. The Executive Sedan for a couple with carry-ons going to a spa weekend. Not the stretch: two hours on the 400 and a ski rack do not mix.

Winter driving

The 400 north of Barrie and Highway 26 are lake-effect snow belts, and the escarpment roads into Collingwood close in whiteouts. Chauffeurs run winter tyres from November, carry the kit, and make the call on the day; a booking that cannot safely be driven is moved, not forced. The chauffeur has done this road in January more often than the passengers have.

Corporate retreats

The Village's conference hotels host Vaughan companies' off-sites, and the transportation is a Sprinter from the VMC or Concord office on Thursday, the car on the mountain by the day if wanted, and the Sprinter home. Booked on the corporate account, it is one line on the invoice.

Booking Vaughan to Blue Mountain

Two one-way legs with dates and times, the class, the passenger and gear count in the notes. Say "Blue Mountain Village" or the condo address. Accept the fixed fares.

A ski weekend, as it runs

A Maple family of five with gear book a Luxury SUV one-way on Friday at 17:00 and one-way home on Sunday at 15:00. The chauffeur loads five people, five pairs of skis and boards on the roof and the boot bags in the cargo bay at 16:55, takes Jane to the 400 and heads north; the 400 is slow from King City to Barrie as it always is on a Friday in February, and the chauffeur leaves it at Horseshoe Valley Road rather than fighting through Barrie, west to Highway 26 and Stayner, and into the Village at 19:20. Sunday at 15:00 the SUV is at the condo, the gear is loaded, and the family is home by 17:15 — asleep, all of them, which is the point. Two fixed fares from the engine, each including the chauffeur's return, and the Village's arrival loop used for the unload as the resort prefers.

The Village, the hill and the town, for the first-timer

Blue Mountain Village is the pedestrian resort village at the base of the hill, with the hotels, the condos, the restaurants and the rental shops around a central plaza; the Blue Mountain Inn and the Westin Trillium are its anchors. The hill above has the Orchard, the Central and the Badlands areas and the night skiing. The Scandinave Spa is ten minutes east on Grey Road 21; Scenic Caves is up the escarpment; Thornbury and its restaurants are twenty minutes west along Highway 26; Collingwood's downtown is ten minutes east; Wasaga Beach is twenty minutes further. A chauffeur staying on the mountain by the day moves a group between all of them; a two-one-way weekend puts the group in the Village and leaves the rest to the shuttles and the walk. The resort's site has the lift status and the Village calendar.

The Hockley Valley route, in detail

From Kleinburg and Woodbridge the chauffeur has a second road: Highway 50 north through Bolton and Palgrave, Airport Road north through Caledon East and Mono Mills into the Hockley Valley, Highway 124 west through Singhampton to the top of the escarpment, and Highway 24 or Grey Road 19 down into Collingwood. It is two-lane country road all the way, slower on paper than the 400 by ten minutes and faster in practice on a Friday evening when the 400 is stopped; in October it is the most beautiful drive in southern Ontario, and in a snowstorm it is the wrong road and the chauffeur takes the 400. Coffee at the Hockley General Store is the tradition.

Gear, roof boxes and the vehicle

The Luxury SUV carries six people and five or six pairs of skis or boards on the roof, with the boot bags, helmets and the weekend's luggage in the cargo bay behind the third row; the chauffeur loads and unloads. The Sprinter carries fourteen with a rear bay that takes a ski club's gear standing up. Snowboards and children's skis ride inside. Tell us the count at booking — "five people, five pairs of skis, five boot bags" — and the right vehicle with the right rack is sent. Wet gear on the way home rides in the bay, not the cabin.

Corporate retreats and groups

The Village's conference hotels host Vaughan companies' off-sites and sales meetings, and the transportation is a Sprinter from the VMC or Concord office on Thursday afternoon, the vehicle on the mountain by the day for the group's dinners in Thornbury and the spa, and the Sprinter home on Saturday. Booked on the corporate account, one line on the invoice; the travel desk books the rooms. Ski clubs and school groups book the Sprinter by the day trip: leave Maple at six, on the hill by eight-thirty, home by seven.

Collingwood itself, and the escarpment towns

Collingwood's downtown on Hurontario Street has the restaurants, the shops and the Saturday market; Thornbury to the west has the harbour, the apple country and the dining that draws the Village's guests out for dinner; Creemore to the south has the brewery and the main street; Meaford and Owen Sound are further west along the bay. A chauffeur on the mountain by the day moves a group between them; a family on a two-one-way weekend finds them by the resort's shuttle or a local taxi. The escarpment's back roads — Grey Road 19, the Pretty River valley, the Beaver Valley toward Kimberley — are the drives for an autumn afternoon, and the resort's site has the region's calendar.

Booking it, and the notes that matter

Two one-way legs with dates and times, the class, and in the notes: the passenger count, the gear count, the Village address or the chalet's road, and — for a chalet — the last-kilometre instruction, because the escarpment's private roads are steep and unmarked. The chauffeur calls the day before to confirm the load and the road, and for a ski weekend in February, the forecast.

Wasaga Beach and Georgian Bay in summer

The same road serves Wasaga Beach — twenty minutes east of Collingwood along Highway 26, the longest freshwater beach in the world — and the Georgian Bay towns; a summer Saturday's SUV from Maple to a Wasaga cottage is a ninety-minute fixed fare, and the return on Sunday evening is fastest before six. Highway 26 through Stayner backs up toward the beach on hot weekends; the chauffeur uses the concession roads.

Book Vaughan to Blue Mountain

The details

Highway 26 through Stayner and Collingwood has a 50 km/h stretch and traffic lights the map underestimates. The Village's arrival loop is for drop-offs only; the chauffeur unloads and moves. The escarpment road (Grey Road 19 up to the top of the hill) is steep and the SUV is the vehicle for it. Wasaga Beach traffic on a summer Saturday backs up Highway 26 to Stayner; the chauffeur goes via Duntroon. And on the Sunday return, leaving before three or after six avoids the worst of the 400.