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Two sections of the trail were recently improved by the La Ronge Ski Club. (Facebook/La Ronge Nordic Ski Club)
winter sports

Ski club ready for 2024/25 season

Nov 29, 2024 | 3:12 PM

With a good amount of snowfall in recent weeks, members of the La Ronge Ski Club have been busy getting out on the trails.

The executive also has many events planned for this season with the Sask Cup Races 1 and 2 scheduled for Dec. 21 and 22 at the Don Allen Trails and the annual Don Allen Saskaloppet, which is the club’s largest event that typically attracts hundreds of skiers from throughout the province and beyond, set for Feb. 28 to March 1.

The School Ski Championships will be held March 7. That event will be held in conjunction with Sask Cup Race 7.

“Everything we do with the ski club is in partnership with [Saskatchewan] Parks and I want to make sure that is pointed out because we wouldn’t be able to maintain the network of trails we do have in La Ronge [without them],” President Matt Koebernick said.

“We have a pretty impressive number of kilometers of trails and that only happens with having that partnership with Parks, but also having a committed crew of volunteers who do a lot of work on the trails.”

A large amount of work has also been completed on the network with the goal of improving trails and making maintenance easier. Notable work has been done between McGibbon Bay, Nut Point and the first checkpoint.

Between McGibbon Bay, overhead and side branches were trimmed while heavy machinery was brought in between McGibbon Bay and Checkpoint 1 to do work like trail realignment.

“With heavy equipment, we improved a kilometer-long section and widened the trail in spots because it was quite narrow,” Koebernick explained.

“There was a big hill there with a sharp 90 degree angle at the bottom that was intimidating for a lot of folks and it just wasn’t a good hill, so we realigned the trail to get rid of that hill and the sharp bend to make it a more pleasant skier experience through that section of trail.”

Kobernick noted the ski club also has plans in the works for the upcoming Solstice Ski to the Summit and the public can watch their Facebook page for more information about it. Residents can also learn more on that page about the club’s adult and youth ski programs.

“I just hope to see everyone out there,” he said, adding the club has ski equipment available to loan to young skiers.

“Winter is a great time to see everyone out there. It is a great physical activity, but it’s good for mental health as well just to get outside and be active in the winter. We want to encourage everyone to do that.”

derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

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