YORKTON - With snow finally arriving with the new year the Yorkton Cross Country Ski Club is finally back on the trails.
“You need a certain amount of snow before you can get out grooming,” said club spokesperson Ray Bailey.
The grooming effort has been under way at Deer Park Golf Course, and skiers are now taking advantage of the trails.
“There have been groomed trails here on the golf course for 50 years,” said Bailey.
Overall there are about eight kilometres of trail, designed in three different loops.
One of the trails – covering about 1.7 kms – is really set out for those new to skiing.
“It’s a really easy loop for beginners,” said Bailey.
Another loop heads into what Bailey termed the ‘valley’, where “the hills are very challenging.”
In that regard Bailey said local skiers are fortunate because Deer Park Golf Course has various topography that suits beginner and veteran when it comes to trails.
And, many take advantage of the trails. The club has a membership of about 125, although Bailey said it spiked to about 150 during the COVID pandemic as an activity that could be done on one’s own.
The trails are open anytime, and Bailey said that includes after dark.
“There’s lots of night skiing,” he said.
Memberships are $35, and that includes trail insurance through Ski Canada, said Bailey, adding the club does receive a grant based on the memberships.
Members can rent skis for $10 for Sunday, when the clubhouse is open for skiers, or $25 for a week.
The club is also focused on grooming the next generation of cross country skiers with its ‘jackrabbit’ program which teaches the sport to those three and older, said Bailey.
The program, which meets Sundays from 2-to-3 p.m., was quite popular through the 1970s, but was lost through the 1990s. The current program has been operating for seven years.
Bailey said one of the great things about cross country skiing is that it is very much an all age activity.
So when someone signs up a youth for the jackrabbit program “I encourage parents to come out to our lessons,” he said, adding cross country skiing “is one of the few sports parents can participate in with their kids.”
There is an adult drop in session from noon to 1:30 Sundays to learn to ski too.
Anyone interested in joining the club can call Bailey at 306-621-9966, or email yorktonxcountry@gmail.com
