The ski season has not yet begun in the Larch Hills but there has been a lot of activity up there in preparation for the eventual start of the season. So much goes on behind the scene in preparation for ski season in the Larch Hills.
The annual Take Back The Hills event on Oct. 29 saw a grand crew of enthusiastic clippers, pruners, sawyers, branch-gatherers, and trail rock removers gather at the chalet to receive marching orders as to where their services would be most needed.
The Larch Hills Junior Race Team, parents and coaches cleared branches pruned by the high branch pruning crew on Cottonwood Cutoff. As part of the safety program, high branch pruning provides safer, slightly wider trails for skiers as well as improved sight lines for two-way skier traffic on sharp corners and at junctions.
Hundreds of volunteer hours go into these projects. The names of these volunteers working with co-ordinator George Zorn can be found on the Larch Hills Nordic Society web site. Impressive work.
There is quite the new look to the stadium area and new trails close in.
With a very active and successful junior race team program there has been need for more trails designed for sprint racing – both for training and for hosting events – like the BC Cup, BC Championships, Midget Championships.
To quote Phil Wallensteen, former chief coach of the junior racers: “The new trails are designed for sprint racing but we’re hoping that it will also create short loops for the younger skiers especially on Jackrabbit days. The stadium has been expanded to make more room for teaching and playing games. The trails will be used for training. It has been hard to find short loops for sprint practice.”
John Thielman was instrumental in getting the new trails made and the area ready for the ski season.
Many hours of work have been put in by volunteers to get the snowshoe trails up to snuff.
Clint Smith reports that his cadre of volunteers has clipped, pruned and removed fallen trees, plus reinstalled the ropes that assist on two of our steeper and more treacherous hills. The development of new sprint trails has had an impact on the snowshoe trails in some areas so some rerouting has had to be done for safety purposes.
We all love the coziness of the chalet – which is made possible by the huge load of wood which is cut by Rapattack to be brought into the chalet area, then cut and split for the cords of wood stacked outside the basement door by yet another batch of volunteers. This major job was completed this week.
Pentti’s Shelter has a new look. With windows donated by Pat Hutchins, and installation by Jim Beckner along with Peter Molnar and Dave Brubaker, Pentti’s now has windows and a door, making it quite the cozy shelter, especially when the sun shines in to warm it up.
Young families will welcome it as a destination rest spot for a snack or lunch with their wee skiers who find getting to the South Hub quite the expedition. Snowshoers will find it a welcome rest spot also. Perhaps someday there will be a small stove in Pentti’s.
As for the Chalet Expansion project, the Dancing With The Shuswap Stars event on Nov. 18 was a roaring success garnering a lovely profit for the expansion.
