By paNOW

Damaged trails disheartening for PA ski club

Jan 9, 2014 | 11:46 PM

paNOW Staff

The Prince Albert Ski Club has been gliding across 30 kilometres of cross-country ski trails for 30 years at Little Red River Park.

But trail grooming is timely, with the funds largely coming from volunteers and membership fees, and unfortunately efforts are being destroyed.

“A big issue out here is skidoos, quads and vehicles; you know trucks and cars, on the ski trails and it takes upwards of 10 hours to groom all the ski trails out here,” said club president Adrian Orynik sitting at an outdoor bench at Little Red River Park on Thursday.

Usually the club tries to get two or three people grooming the trails at once to hasten the process.

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“It’s really disheartening when you spend 10 hours out there and you’re putting the machine away and you see a couple sleds rip down your trail and it’s gone. So there’s 10 hours of work, and gas, and fuel, and wear and tear on our machinery that’s now wasted,” he explained.

“That’s an ongoing battle, but this year we’ve found it pretty bad.”

The ski club has been working closely with the City and Prince Albert Police Service to try to find a way to stop the issue.

This is Orynik’s first year as president and he’s trying to bring awareness to the club and the issues it overcomes.

“We’re trying to grow our numbers. I know there’s a lot more people skiing out there that aren’t aware that the club exists even,” Orynik said, adding their club also helps hikers.

“We groom some walking trails as well. Just because once the snow falls all the hiking and walking trails from the summer turn into cross-country ski trails, and walking really tears them apart. So what we do is groom some designated walking trails, they’re signed as well, for people that want to come and walk.”

Updating their image

With an expansive history in Prince Albert, Orynik is ready to give the club a bit of an update.

This year it has gone online. It is the first time registration for the Prince Albert Ski Club has been made available on the Internet, which can also still be done at Fresh Air Experience. He said he wants to utilize social media more like Facebook, all in hopes of increasing membership and public recognition.

Coming up Feb. 9 is the annual Prince Albert Ski Loppet and Orynik is encouraging the public to attend.

“It’s a great time for families to come out and ski. You can ski five [kilometres], you can ski 35 [kilometres], we have lunch afterwards,” he said. “Just come out and enjoy it. Even if you’re not skiing come out and take a look at the start. Hopefully we’ll have 50 or 60 skiers starting.”

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84