OLDS — The weather this month has not been unusual for the Mountain View Nordic Ski Club, despite the fact that there’s only a skiff of snow on the ground, president Warren Smith says.
“So far this year seems quite normal,” he wrote in an email.
“It’s not unusual to have very little snow early winter; some years even a brown Christmas.”
Smith was asked if club members were looking to ski closer to the mountains, due to the lack of snow in Olds and area.
Smith said as of last week there were “very few options” to do that because there “there is not much to ski on in the west.”
He said there’s some snow in the Lake Louise area and a “hint of skiable terrain in K country.”
Preparations have been undertaken for when the snow does arrive.
Smith said town staff have mowed a trail route east of 57th Avenue in south Olds and “we’ve pulled a road drag to knock down pocket gopher mounds.”
Also, there’s now additional parking at Trail Creek, the club’s cross country ski trail area west of town.
Smith praised town staff and landowners for the assistance they’ve provided.
“When snow comes, we will groom and pack in town and at Trail Creek, then trackset on subsequent snowfalls,” Smith wrote.
“I’d say we are eminently ready -- machines tuned, trail signs in place.”
Meanwhile, the club has started a snow machine fund to replace two Skidoos which Smith said are “rather ancient and vulnerable to malfunction".
“As skiers/outdoors enthusiasts we are always subject to the vagaries of Ma Nature, hence the mantra ‘when we get the snow it’s time to go',’” he added.
