Many bemoaning lack of winter

With a record high being set here yesterday, the lack of snow is affecting local businesses as well as activity for winter clubs and outdoor enthusiasts.
Jim Badiuk of Badiuk Equipment said snowmachine sales have been impacted by the lack of snow, but is hopeful the district will see a lot more of the white stuff yet.
“Last year was really, really good. And this year is actually not bad,” he noted Thursday morning. “If we just hadn’t gotten these last three weeks of weather, we’d be right on. Things would be great.
“I’ve got lots of hope yet. It’s just got to cool off and snow, and we’re good to go,” he added. “We’re in great shape.
“We just need some weather to co-operate and we think its coming.”
Tammy Grinsell, a partner in Pinewood Sports and Marine here, said the lack of snow definitely has affected snowmachine sales.
But she added the phenomenon is not isolated to this winter, but is part of a declining trend over the past five or six years.
“Our winters have gone away,” she remarked.
Jean Bujold, a member of the Rainy Lake Nordic Ski Club, agreed there’s been less snow in the area in the last few years, but added there always was enough to get in some good ski seasons.
“Things are a little bit different this year, for sure,” she conceded. “People aren’t able to ski right now because there is no snow base.”
But she noted club members are optimistic coming into the new year.
“We’re anxiously awaiting it to snow in order to be out there on the trails,” she said. “Right now it’s not happening . . . but you never know in Northwestern Ontario.”
In the meantime, Bujold said volunteers have been putting their time and effort into building the new ski chalet at the Rocky Inlet trails.
Bujold explained they need about 15 cm of snow for a base because it needs to be packed down.
“And I think some cross-country skiers are going stir crazy,” she noted.
Local outdoors enthusiast Henry Miller added the Eighth Street trails here in town are in horrible shape due to the weather.
“They’re terrible—they’re frozen solid, rough, hardly any snow,” he noted Thursday morning. “It’s really affected us because we can’t snowshoe, cross-country ski.”
But Miller also is hopeful there will be snow in the forecast this winter.
“There will be snow—there has to be,” he chuckled, adding the unusually mild temperatures for this time of year also has affected wildlife in the area.
Those who have been skating and playing hockey on the town’s outdoor rinks since before Christmas also may be out of luck for the time being.
“I was just down at the north-end rink and it’s pretty much under water right now,” Airport and Parks superintendent Bill Caul said Thursday morning.
“It’s going to depend on what the weather does,” he added. “If it stays warm, it could ruin everything we’ve got and we’ll have to start over again.
“If this turns to snow and that falls on top of the rain, we’re going to end up with slush,” he warned.
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens right now.”