Funding puts ski club on the right trail

It’s not like winning the lottery, but Dr. Cameron Moorhouse isn’t going to sniff at this windfall.
The president of the Rainy Lake Nordic Ski Club painted a picture of a brighter tomorrow for area cross-country skiers with the announcement the club has received a $25,000 grant from the Trillium Foundation.
The money is earmarked for the establishment of a 15-20 km trail system running north of Rocky Inlet Road, just east of the Noden Causeway.
“The new trail will have sufficient width to allow the classical, or skating, variety of skiing,” Dr. Moorhouse said of the project, which will begin taking shape this fall.
“The community doesn’t historically have any proper cross-country skiing trails,” he noted. “If you want to ski on well-groomed trails in the classical style, you have to travel some distance to do so.”
Along with the wider surface, Dr. Moorhouse said the trail system will have a significant amount of signage, a proper parking area, and a warm-up hut, which also will serve as headquarters for skiing classes of various ages.
Abitibi-Consolidated contributed $5,0000 towards the project last winter while the club itself has collected $4,000 in donations.
Dr. Moorhouse noted Roy’s Repair in Fort Frances has lent equipment to be used while Joe Johnson Construction Ltd. will be the project contractor.
The new trail is the result of an eight-month consultation process with the Ministry of Natural Resources that included the club having to face concerns from local land and cottage owners—among others—about the possible drawbacks.
“It was basically an issue of people saying, ‘Not in my backyard,’” said Dr. Moorhouse. “But we’ve addressed all their concerns about road use, noise, and safety.
“We want to be partners with them and help them to see that the trail is a boon to their properties, and can be a positive thing rather than a negative,” he added.
While Dr. Moorhouse admitted following the rules of proper trail usage will be “totally dependent on the goodwill of everybody,” he doesn’t see the situation as one that will get out of hand.
“It won’t be a massively used area, as a lot of days it’s too cold to ski,” he said, noting current cross-country skiers in the area number only “a few dozen.”
“There won’t be a liquor licence issued to the area, and someone would have to get malicious to tear up the trail with their snowmobile,” he said. “I don’t expect there to be trouble.”
Dr. Moorhouse also made it clear that because the trail is on Crown land, it will be open to the general public.
“Everyone is welcome, and there is no fee to use the system,” he stressed.
The club also wants to promote use of the trail in the off-season as a walking and mountain biking path.
Long-term goals for the trail include a two-three km stretch which will have lights added to accommodate night skiing, and the future possibility of holding cross-country competitions.
Cross-country skiing deserves the image boost the new trail will provide, said Dr. Moorhouse.
“It’s one of the sports promoting health and wellness for a community that needs outdoor recreational alternatives in the winter,” he remarked.
The club held its annual fall meeting last night at the Memorial Sports Centre, with about 20 people on hand.
They were told brush-cutting for the new trial will begin in the next few days, with the first five-seven km slated to be groomed and ready by November.
The club will hold its next meeting Dec. 3, at which time a vice-president will be elected, among other business.