The cross-country ski season kicks off this Saturday in the South Cariboo.
Chris Keam, president of the 100 Mile Nordic Ski Society, said the Nordics Lodge will officially open Dec. 10. He expects plenty of new skiers to take to the 45 kilometres of groomed trails, especially following a successful ski swap last month in which a lot of gear changed hands.
“Our plans for the season are really to make the most of our new groomer and have lots of trails for people to go out on. We are definitely in a growth year coming back after COVID,” Keam said. “Our ski swap went pretty fast and we got a lot of unused skis out of people’s closets and into other people’s hands.”
The lodge, open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day, offers ski and snowshoe rentals as well as food. After the lodge closes, Keam said Nordics members can ski using the trail’s automatic trail lighting system until 10 p.m.
Adult day passes are $15 and family day passes $30 with six-day punch cards available for $75. Season passes are $125 for seniors, $140 for adults, $100 for youth and $330 for families.
“It’s definitely one of the best values in town, it’s hard to beat the price. Even if you’re not from around here I say to my friends on the coast that for the price of gas to Whistler you can get a year’s worth of skiing up here. We’re a great weekend getaway, in my opinion,” Keam said.
He said he aims to organize more racing-style events for the public. Keam said these events are in the planning stages and none are planned until the new year.
“We would like to see more events to bring people here as a way for us to generate revenue and to keep developing the lodge and trails as a getaway destination.”
Keam said he also wants to hear from the community about what the society should focus on when it does its strategic planning. He said they’ll be reaching out directly to members and the general public.
“They can tell us what they want the club to look like and what they want us to do,” he said.
“Once that’s in place we’ll be looking at what opportunities there are for grant funding and turn those ideas into reality.”
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.