A photo from a previous skiing season. (Prince Albert Ski Club/ Facebook)

By Ian Gustafson

Upcoming Season

Ski Club nears opening day

Dec 15, 2019 | 3:49 PM

The Prince Albert Nordic Ski Club is nearing the beginning of their season.

President Mike Horn said they’re close but there isn’t enough snow to open all the trails at Little Red River Park.

“It would be nice to get a 10 – 15 cm dump of snow then we’d be in really good shape,” he said.

He added there is probably enough of the white stuff to start packing down on the trails, so they don’t lose it and can use it as a base.

The last few weeks he said they’ve been maintaining a loop around Kristi Lake giving people a place to ski during the low snow times.

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There is no specific start date yet as they don’t make snow and rely purely on mother nature.

“ASAP would be in everyone’s best interest because I think people are itching to get skiing,” Horn said.

To create the ideal trail he explained you need at least 15 cm in total but when they pack it they need more.

“Out at Little Red we’re dealing with trails that have roots and there’s some ruts and some erosion,” he added. “You need a fairly good base to cover that off. The more snow the better, but I think we’re pretty good with 15 cm to get us started anyway.”

He said they will start packing down some of the novice trails that don’t have steep hills.

“There’s a bit of a danger if you do it too early and you start to kick up some of the sand and the debris from under the snow [so] you can run into a bit of a problem,” Horn explained.

150 people have already bought their memberships for the upcoming season and he said they will have a flurry of new members once the trails are open.

“People like to be out there by now for sure, so people are definitely eager,” he said.

Every year is different, sometimes they’re skiing in November and other times not until after Christmas. They currently have 45 kilometres of trail with 12 different trail options out at Little Red River Park. The club is volunteer based so it does take some time to pack and track all the trails.

“We’re very fortunate to have the volunteers that we do, and they do a pretty outstanding job,” he said.

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Ian.gustafson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @iangustafson12