Story submitted by Anne Stupak.
The Good Spirit XC Ski Club hosted a first of its kind in the province, a night loppet called the Lamplighter Loppet. A loppet is not a race or competitive event at all but just a fun ski hosted by the club to bring skiers out to the trails.
The idea of a night loppet originated because so many club members go skiing in the evenings. On any given night you can expect to meet someone on the trails or having supper and a ski at the shelter.
The 19th of Febuary with temperatures a crisp -30, the club had 23 enthusiastic skiers come out for the loppet. Most skied the distance from the Park's Rec Hall out to the shelter for an 8 km round trip. Four skiers defied the cold and skied further doing a round trip of 15 km. The Shelter was all lit up with streams of lights and the return track to the Rec Hall was also lit-up. It was a welcome sight for frosted up skiers. A hot meal and some warm refreshments and music rounded out the evening. It was a wonderful turn out for our first time hosting an event such as this. The weather is always a challenge to planners but with no wind chill we decided that the event was a go. There were some cold fingers and toes but as with xc skiing it does not take long to warm up.
Club members are planning for next year's loppet and hope to make this a annual event.
The Lamplighter Loppet was the first of its kind in Saskatchewan. There are several day loppets but no night loppets which adds a special challenge to skiers. The trails at Good Spirit are ideal for this kind of event with it's gently rolling hills and loops back to the shelter. There are no real scary hills that would cause injury to a new comer to night skiing.
We hope to see this loppet grow in popularity as this event becomes a regular scheduled event on the Sask Ski Assoc. Calendar.
The Good Spirit XC Ski Club continues to grow in memberships and the visits to the trails have increased. The log in book at the shelter shows close to 700 recorded visits and the season is just at it's peak. Depending on temps and snow melt we can see the trails continued to be skied well into the beginning of April.
