Hello Everyone! And a very merry Christmas to you all! And a special, warm welcome to all the newcomers who have joined our Club this year! What a fall season we have had!
(OK, that’s way too many exclamation marks – calm down, Liz!)
New skis! We won 20 new sets of skis, boots, poles and boots from Rossignol with an option to buy 10 more for $100 per set. We will exercise that option and our rental shed will end up with 30 new sets of ski gear! Hurray!
Memberships: CCBC (Cross Country BC) has been running this contest for about 4 years now and our Club has been consistently second in our category. So this year Cathy and I thought, well what if we challenged ourselves to sign up 100 early birds in the last week?
Hard, not impossible, and you never know! So I went on Facebook and sent out an email, encouraged everyone to start recruiting and we got 20 new members in 1 day! After that it was just Cathy updating me and me posting with more encouraging words and wham! 150
early birds in 1 week! Wow! What a ride! Thank you everyone for participating, recruiting and signing up! 477 Early Bird memberships is very impressive!
About that Rental Shop:
It’s just about ready to open; with many thanks to Ian Gordon for spearheading the project and Dean Bergstrom and especially Doug Gent for doing all the finishing work inside. We’ve moved the boots into their new home and it’s amazing! Rentals will be available when there’s enough snow to ski on without scraping on rocks.
If any Jack Rabbits families missed getting
their rental gear last Sunday, you can still get seasonal rentals during rental shop hours. Don’t leave it to Jan. 4, before classes start. It won’t end well.
And if there are families with kids who would like to rent ski gear for the winter, the rental shed people will help you out when the rental shed is open. The cost is $75 for skis, poles and boots. (We do not do season rentals for adults.) The rental shed hours will be posted on the website and on Facebook, once we open the trails for skiing.
We have a snowshoe and fat bike trail this year! It starts beside the Electrical shed,
parallels the Beaver and Clearwater (more or less) down to Onion Lake, and returns, parallel
to the highway. 4.7 km. Day fee cost is $5, day passes are available at the ticket booth
attached to the lodge. A ski club membership is good for the snow shoe trail. No skiing on
the snowshoe trail, and no snowshoeing on the ski trails! The guidelines for trail use are
posted at the trailhead and are also posted on the website HERE. The trail is one- directional for both snowshoers and fat bikes, with many available loops if you want to shorten your adventure. No dogs on this trail. We do not have snow shoe rentals available at this time.
Dog Trail: We’re trying a new poop control method this year. The bags and garbage can seemed to get used, the can was often full, but the entrance to the Dog Trail was still often a
mine field. So, we’re going to try a method used at several other clubs and see if it works.
There will be lime green Poop Scoop shovels hanging on pegs beside the trail: one at the
parking lot gate, 3 along the access trail and 4 more along the trail to the junction with the
Short Dog. Please, grab the nearest shovel, toss your dog’s doo into the bush and hang
said shovel on the nearest hook. No need to ski back to same hook, just hang it on the next
one. People on their way back, please redistribute shovels evenly so they don’t all
end up at the end of the line. Remember, owners are responsible for cleaning up after
their dogs.
Moose Hut: For those of you who don’t know about this little gem, here’s the scoop.
Located on the Moose Highway, at the lower junction of the Kitlope Crossing, the Moose Hut
is available for day use or overnight stays. There are 4 bunks and an arrangement for an
optional sleeping platform for 2 more. You can also sleep on the floor, under the table, out on
the deck or dig a snow cave if necessary. (yes, we camped 17 out there once!). There is a brand new wood stove installed and 7 sleeping mats. A propane stove is stored under the
bunk, and battery operated lanterns are also kept there. Bring your own can of propane.
Don’t wear out the batteries. Pots, pans, utensils etc are all there. Please leave kindling
and wood in the wood box for the next users, and sweep and clean thoroughly when leaving,
and remove your own garbage. Cost is free for club members. Non-members must be a guest
of a member and buy 2 day passes, one for each day they’re on the trails.
Because it’s a popular overnight adventure, you need to book use of the cabin with
Duncan, who can be contacted from the website.
New Website: Many thanks to Tara Robinson from Northern BC Web Services (www.northernbcweb.ca) who volunteers a ridiculous amount of time to do everything.
When do we open? The gates will open when there are few inches of snow on the
ground and you can “sort of “ ski. We can start grooming with the snowmobile when there’s
about 8 inches on the ground. Check the Drive BC Web Cam often!
We need 2 feet to put the big Snow Kitty to
work.
When we start grooming, we’ll put the lid on
the money box and start charging day fees for
nonmembers..
Now all we need is some snow!
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Aaaand........
Think Snow!
Liz Thorne da Prez, SVNSC
