Welcome Back to the 2023-2024 Ski Season!
A message from Ian Webster…
Oct. 1 Work Party A Big Success
Mother Nature couldn’t have provided a better day for the Nicola Nordic Ski Club’s first work party of the new season on Sunday, Oct. 1 at the Kane Valley ski trails. No fewer than 12 club members and friends gathered at P2 at 10 a.m. before dispersing to various job sites. Vern Latremouille, Kevin Murray and Gerry Sanford headed off to take down and buck up several danger trees that had been identified at P3 and on Matthew’s Loops. The trio of Mischelle Pierce, Melanie Murray and Lorna Latremouille made good use of their e-bikes to cruise Matthew’s Loops, Kane and Sundown, clearing notable rocks and debris from the trails. The foursome of Bill Pierce, Gary Ware, Dave Brown and Bruce Mynott headed directly to the junction of Tolko and Connector trails, where a new map kiosk was being erected to replace the previous one that had fallen down and been destroyed. These three crews then all made their way to Bertha Landing, where Janet Harper and I had begun work on repairing the approaches to the heavily used bridge at the junction of Ravine and Sundown trails. Many hard-working hands and a great deal of expertise made fast work of the bridge upgrade, as well as the repair and re-installing of a second map kiosk at the same junction that had fallen down. To finish things off, some minor brushing and clearing was done to make a nice bypass trail for horses and riders that are leery of crossing the bridge. The entire group broke for lunch at 12:30 p.m. under brilliant sunshine, with delicious pumpkin and strawberry-rhubarb pies provided for those who wanted/needed/craved a dessert. The last of the volunteers were back at P2 by 3 p.m.
A huge thank-you goes out to all those individuals who gave up part of their weekend to help keep the Kane Valley the jewel that it is, and a special thank-you to Greg Hodson, Cascades District Recreation Technician with the Ministry of Environment & Climate Change Strategy here in Merritt for his unwavering support, enthusiasm, and provision of materials. He would have been at the work party himself but for a previously-planned, long-weekend, family getaway.
A second NNSC work party is planned for Sunday, October 22 at 10 a.m., weather permitting. The focal point will be P5, where we will install a new gate (already purchased by Greg) and make improvements to both of the bridges on site to make them safer and easier for skiers, snowshoers, and snow grooming equipment to approach and cross. There is also a map kiosk at P6, on the north side of the road, that needs to be moved some 50 metres so that it is closer to the Kane Valley Road and to the start of the Harmon trail. If you would like more information, or want to volunteer for Oct. 22, please give me a buzz at ikwebster5152@gmail.com.
In the meantime, happy trails and enjoy the colors.
