Victor Nymark

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The names around the area were determined not by chance, especially since the Nymark Lodge was once located nearby.  

The memory of Victor Nymark is still very much alive in Saint-Sauveur. And with good reason. This Finnish-born entrepreneur was the driving force behind the transformation of our small Laurentian village into a bustling, attractive year-round tourist hub. He was a natural-born leader who worked tirelessly to promote his adoptive region.

He was born in 1901 in the village of Kvevlax near the west coast of Finland. He was the second of nine children. A graduate of the Vaasa Industrial School in drawing, he built his first log house at the age of sixteen. He was only seventeen when civil war broke out in Finland, claiming thousands of victims on both sides. In June 1924, he immigrated to Canada, settling in Saint-Sauveur four years later.

The Alpine Inn circa 1940.

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Throughout the 1930s, Nymark designed and built several Scandinavian-style log homes and hotels. His most important project was undoubtedly the Château Montebello which was designed by architect Harold Lawson. The building required 10,000 logs, 500,000 hand-split cedar shingles for the roof and some 3,500 men to build. This achievement made him known across the country. Several commissions followed, including the Mont-Gabriel Hotel, the reconstruction of the Alpine Inn in Sainte-Marguerite-Station, the St. Francis of the Birds Anglican Church in Saint-Sauveur, John Henry Molson's house in Cap Molson and, in 1939, Joseph Ryan's Mont Tremblant Lodge.

Nymark Lodge circa 1944

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During this same period, he purchased lots 251 and 252, which included Côtes 70 and 71 of Mont Saint-Sauveur. The Laurentians was at a turning point in their history, with farmers abandoning unproductive land in favor of a burgeoning tourist industry based on outdoor sports. 

Nymark understood that the region's economic viability depended on how quickly residents responded to this opportunity. He became a change facilitator, teaming up with other entrepreneurs such as Adolphe Bélanger, with whom he built a ski jump, and his brother Oscar, with whom he opened the first store specializing in Skiers' accessories.

For the many downhill skiers who flocked to Saint-Sauveur on the weekends, he 
transformed his home into a boarding house and then into an imposing hotel. He was also an avid Nordic skier, blazing trails with Herman Smith-Johannsen, aka “Jackrabbit”. “One day, he skied from Saint-Sauveur to Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson, about twenty kilometers, won a race and skied back to Saint-Sauveur.

No one doubted his vitality!

Côte 70 circa 1955-60. Postcard by Mike Hawkins.

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The list of his accomplishments is long, as are the committees in which he participated to promote the region. One of Nymark's initiatives was the organization of a skiing competitions and festivities week. This annual event takes place in early March and attracts many Montrealers. Over the years, Saint-Sauveur has become renowned not only as a sporting destination, but also for its après-ski, bars and restaurants. The Nymark Lodge now boasts a swimming pool, and nearby is the Saint-Sauveur Golf Club, a nine-hole golf course at the bottom of Côtes 70, 71 and 72, founded by Nymark himself.

The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1978, and as he was now 77, Nymark did not 
rebuild it. He had already sold Côtes 70, 71 and 72 to a new generation of skiers, 
including Jacques Hébert and Guy Piché, who turned it into the resort we know today. 

Victor Nymark was inducted into the Laurentian Ski Hall of Fame in 1983. He died in 1988 and was buried in the St Francis of the Birds cemetery alongside other prominent Saint-Sauveur figures.