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SNOWHAWKS OTTAWA
ABOUT US
Ottawa’s travelling ski & snowboard school for kids, teens, and adults, with deluxe motor coach travel to a variety of ski centres since 1987.
OUR STORY & KEY PEOPLE
Our History of Nearly Four Decades on Snow
Snowhawks is Ontario's premier travelling ski and snowboard school that has been teaching enthusiasts since 1984 in Toronto and 1987 in Ottawa.
Our formula for fun & learning is a simple one: Charter the most comfortable motor coaches, travel with skiers and snowboarders to a variety of the best mountains, provide quality instruction with our own team of certified pros in a safe and supervised setting, and foster both friendships and a lifetime enjoyment of these wonderful winter sports.
It's a formula that works, and best demonstrated by the participation of so many next-generation children, whose parents are “graduates” of Snowhawks travelling ski & snowboard programs…
Over four decades, our community has grown, and Snowhawks has developed a reputation for quality, safety and fun. It's a reputation which we never take for granted - one which we set out each season to renew.
By the mid-1990s, with robust child & teen programs well underway, Snowhawks Ottawa welcomed its first busloads of adult members, and our Wednesday Adult Getaway group has come to appreciate the combination of excellent instruction, travel to the best Laurentian hills, and an ambiance which only Snowhawks offers. So many ski friendships formed that members encouraged us to organize ski destination travel for them, and we listened. Since 2000, Snowhawks ski groups have travelled together by motor coach throughout the Eastern Townships, the Charlevoix and Vermont, and by airplane throughout the Canadian and US west, across Europe and even Japan.
In 2003, Hopewell Ave Public School invited Snowhawks to deliver their ski program, and so began the Snowhawks Skiing-in-Schools program which now serves about 30 Ottawa-area elementary and middle schools on weekday evenings.
As we launch the start of our next 40 years, Snowhawks Ottawa is poised to partner with Ottawa Sports, both now operating under the Alpine Access Corp banner. Together, we offer a range of Ottawa's premier alpine adventures, from ski & snowboard travelling programs & camps to high-level athlete ski race training and excellent opportunities for private and semi-private ski and snowboard instruction for children and adults.
We invite you to read on about our Mid-Winter & Spring Break youth programs, our new Winter Break Camp for kids, and our Adult Getaways, Destination trips and Single-day Recreational programs for 2026-2027.
NICHOLAS HAMMELL
Executive Director
Nicholas Hammell founded Ottawa Sports at 17, turning his passionate love of skiing into a business focussed on giving Ottawa-area families better access to quality ski and snowboard services close to home, while giving instructors and coaches a chance to thrive in a better, more caring workplace. Nick trained as a Powerline Technician, a diploma he put to work as a storm-chasing powerline technician, deployed to events like Hurricanes Helene and Milton, while building the ski business on the side. However, by winter 2024, Ottawa Sports had grown enough for Nicholas to make it his full-time endeavour. Nick holds his CSIA Level 4 in teaching and Level 3 in skiing, with the goal of completing his Level 4 skiing this season. As a CSIA Level 1 Course Conductor, Nick particularly enjoys mentoring new instructors as they launch their careers, while developing and challenging veteran instructors and coaches too. In November 2024, Nick was named Alpine Ontario’s Coach of the Year at the Ontario Ski Racing Awards. As Founder and Executive Director of Alpine Access Corp., Nick now leads two brands under one roof — Ottawa Sports and Snowhawks Ottawa, brought together in 2026 after years of working closely with Snowhawks Ottawa founder and mentor, Harvey Brodkin. Together, the Alpine Access organizations serve thousands of skiers and riders each season, with more than 65 certified, experienced, and caring instructors and coaches delivering travel-based programs across the Ottawa, Outaouais, Laurentian regions and beyond. Off the hill, that same work ethic carries over: trail riding his e-MTB, tending meat on his Big Green Egg smoker, or getting out on the water during our too-short summers. But skiing is where it started, and skiing remains Nick's focus and passion. See you on the hill.
Learn about THE KEY PEOPLE BEHIND OUR PROGRAMS
MEET THE TEAM
Meet more of our amazing key staff as we get closer to the season ahead. Coming soon...
And now, Bentley & Moose invite you to browse our 2027 season programs and look forward to seeing you at the hills.
Bentley
Moose
HARVEY BRODKIN
Founder
Harvey Brodkin founded Snowhawks Ottawa in the fall of 1987, a natural progression for someone who began skiing at age two and skied whenever possible in the Laurentians, Eastern-Townships and Vermont. When not skiing, teaching skiing or riding a chairlift, Harvey found time to complete a B.A. at Concordia and an M.A. at Queens, followed by a B.Ed. degree at U Ottawa and an Ontario Teacher's Certificate. Harvey is a 50-year member of the Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance, currently certified at Level 3. Over the years, Snowhawks Ottawa became a family activity as Harvey was joined in the challenge and fun each winter by his wife, Marion Haas (CSIA Level 2), and three daughters, Kayleigh, Hannah & Amelia (all Level 1 ski instructors). Early in the Snowhawks adventure the family’s chocolate Labrador retriever, Kahlua, told Harvey that “you cannot run a ski club without a dog.” Since then, Snowhawks has never been without a chocolate lab mascot, as the torch passed from Kahlua, to Chester, and now to Bentley & Moose. Harvey’s plan is to keep skiing till it hurts.