Trail Grooming & Track-Setting

Since 1991, the Cross Country Ski Trails at Stake Lake have been groomed by volunteers.  Over the past several years, thousands of visitors to the ski area enjoy the results of these extraordinary volunteer’s efforts.

 

On average the trails at Stake Lake are groomed 3-4 times per week. In 2002, the club purchased a Bombardier 400+ grooming machine (the same as the ones used at most downhill ski resorts) to replace its previous one.  The work, not to mention expertise that goes into grooming and track-setting cross-country ski trails is phenomenal. Not only does grooming and track-setting involve being able to operate the grooming machine, but also to be able to accurately read and understand the snow conditions to have optimal results.

 

For safety reasons, the groomers always work in pairs, and most grooming shifts begin at 7:00pm and usually finish between 12-1:00AM!  On days when there is snowfall, there is typically another grooming or track-set which is done in the middle of the night and finishing before the ski area opens each day at 9:00am.

 

What seems like a tremendous amount of hard work to the rest of the world is a passion for the Stake Lake trail groomers. Many of the members have been doing it since 1991! Currently, there are 10 trail groomers, who make this volunteer commitment. The majority of these volunteers also hold down regular day jobs.  The Club sends a special thanks to the 2003-3004 Trail groomers.

 

The Grooming crew is:

Garry Plant

Mike Stewart-Smith

Joe Wlasitz

Chris Jones

Rob Hunter

Luciano Guilherme

Kerry Spear

Norm Milne

Peter Findlay

Bill Rideout