Trail Planning Info Session - Oct 27
Wednesday October 9, 2024
Come to Buchfink Lodge at the BV Nordic Centre at 1:00 pm Sunday October 27, 2024 for a trail planning information session. Our club's AGM starts at 2:00 pm, so come early for the trail plan presentation. After the AGM, we will continue trail planning Q&As and discussions while we share some wine and cheese.
Background
There have been a lot of improvements on our trails in recent years. The smoother, better-drained trails are easier to maintain and allow better grooming. The improvements made a huge difference during the low-snow conditions last year when were able to enjoy great skiing on a thin snowpack.
This summer, there were big upgrades to our trails, thanks to a large grant from BC's Destination Development Fund, club surplus from last season, and a grant from Wetzin'kwa Community Forest.
- Old wood structures have been replaced by large permanent bridges on Wetzin'kwa trail and on Pine Creek trail near the back loop.
- The swamp bypass has been built. This is a new section of trail on the Pine Creek trail that replaces the previously closed swamp section.
- Valley View Connector should be finished mid-October. This allows a re-routing of Down the Mountain using a spur road and a short new section to create a better loop with Valley View.
- More grading, widening, drainage and rock busting has been done on select trail sections.
The grant from the Destination Development Fund is also paying most of the cost of a new tracksetter, a new outhouse for the lower parking lot, new signage and some race trail planning. And the club used some reserves to buy a side by side. We will share more details soon about these exciting additions.
Trail Planning Presentation
The recent trail upgrades and the new equipment will improve the ski trails greatly but for our trail planning presentation, the primary focus will be on our plans for the future.
In December 2022, we posted to our website our Trail Plan 2023-2026. The plan considered the 2021 membership survey and input from interested members. Since then, lots has been accomplished and some things have changed, so it is time to update and expand the trail plan.
This information session is intended to share information and collect feedback on current proposals and input on club priorities.
Our presentation will cover the following recent planning activities:
- Competition and Training Trails 2024 Master Plan
Download the report from our Trail Plan page. This report was done with funding from our Destination Development Fund grant. Roger McMillan did the initial planning for this project and worked with consultant Reidar Zapf-Gilje on the field work for the report. Roger will give an overview of the report and seek feedback on what the priorities should be. Updated biathlon loops were part of the competition trails planning, but not included in the homologation report. Roger will have some handouts on those plans. - Proposals for a new dog trail and for a no-dog access from the tunnel to Pine loop.
Kevin Kriese is our trail coordinator and has laid out feasible routes. He will describe the proposals and what it would take to make them happen. - Trail upgrades that are still needed on some trails.
- Possibilities for the future. Pros and cons of more expansion. Strategies for challenges like climate change, increasing costs, etc.
We will be looking for feedback at the presentation and at the post-AGM discussion session. The feedback will be considered by the board in setting club priorities and determining if and when to apply for new trail authorizations, grant applications, etc. In addition to expressions of support, the proposed work will require commitments from volunteers willing to lead the multi-year process of implementing the trail plan.
