By Derek Cornet

Nistowiak Falls a highlight of fat bike excursion

Mar 19, 2018 | 5:00 PM

Organizers of a two-day excursion called “Nistowiak and Back” are hopeful it will become an annual event, drawing tourists and northern residents to the waterfall.

“It turned out really well and everyone had a good time,” said Mike Maggrah, who sits on the executive of the Boreal Outdoor Recreation Association. “Ideally, we will do this every year. There seems to be enough interest in it.”

On March 17 Maggrah, along with 24 other riders, set out from Stanley Mission to Nistowiak Falls, which is about 20 kilometers away. They had several meals and spent the night at Jim’s Camp, before heading back to Stanley Mission the following day. Maggrah said the group travelled to the location using fat bikes, which are special mountain bikes designed to use all-terrain tires up to five inches thick.

Maggrah said it took about an hour longer to get to the falls than back because of a strong head wind. He said trail was quite soft, which made it harder to pedal the bikes through the snow. Two people on snowmobiles also accompanied the group, Maggrah said, in case any bikers experienced issues and needed a lift.

“The trail was beautiful,” he said. “At the end of a day of riding, when we got out to the falls, people were blown away by seeing something like Nistowiak in Saskatchewan. People get a totally different idea of what Saskatchewan is.”

recognition

Northerners receive King Charles III Coronation Medals

9h ago

provincial election

NDP promises to apologize to survivors of Île-à-la-Crosse and Timber Bay residential schools

Sep 20, 2024

high performance

Northern Student Achievement Awards distributed by Lt. Gov. Mirasty

Sep 20, 2024

Considering more than half of the riders who went on the excursion were from either Saskatoon or Regina, Maggrah said the journey was a good way to introduce southerners to the North. He said the terrain in the North is well-suited for mountain biking, and people tend to be surprised when they find out.

La Ronge resident Derek Konga accompanied the group throughout the excursion in a supportive role. He said he travelled by snowmobile and followed the group to make sure nobody was left behind. Konga said there were no major issues and he was happy organizers were ably to host the event successfully.

“They did a good job to bring all those people from the south up to visit our beautiful forest,” he said.  

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno