Blasting is well underway to improve the local ski trails.
Workers have blasted out rock on Boundary Trail as well as Korotash Hill to create gradual hills rather than the steep inclines that were present.
Boundary Trail, which got its name from the Manitoba and Saskatchewan boundary that it follows, underwent its facelift earlier this week as large boulders were blasted away.
Earlier in the project, a rock ledge was blasted from the top of the hill on Korotash Trail.
The Flin Flon Ski Club is spending to the tune of $13,000 worth of grants to improve the quality of the trails and to make them more user-friendly.
“We’ve got the reputation of having some of the best trails around and basically with this sort of project they are getting better and better all the time,” said the club’s Dave Price.
Best in town
The idea for improving the trails came during one of the recent provincial ski competitions hosted by the Ski Club. A delegate told Price the local trails were fantastic.
“They are as good as he’d found anywhere,” Price said. “But we’ve got those few rocky sections.”
By having the rock edges blasted away, skiers will be able to move about the course with less difficulty.
The club started blasting two years ago with the improvements on one course and have just recently begun work again.
“We [knew] the Boundary Trail could use some treatment,” said Price, a former geologist. “It’s one of our most beautiful trails.”
As skiers crest the top of the hill they are able to overlook the community with the water tower in full sight as well as rocks, water and trees.
“You get a fantastic view,” said Price, eager to see the outcome.
Before blasting took place on Wednesday, a large rock face sat atop the incline of Boundary Trail, creating a bottleneck. The steep grade also had a winding corner at the bottom.
Price and the rest of the club members know that skiers were deterred from using the trail as it came with its own set of challenges.
“So we decided we would do the blasting,” he said.
On Korotash Hill it was a similar situation with a rock ledge and a steep grade.
“Halfway up there [was] this rocky ridge that is quite steep,” said Price.
The rock ridge required more snow than other parts of the trail to ensure that skis and other equipment would not be damaged.“It [was] very awkward for a skier either going uphill or downhill,” Price said.
User friendly
This past week’s improvements to the trails could potentially see an increase in club membership next season.
“Our membership has been going up quite nicely over the last number of years,” said Price, pleased with the stats. “And that is very much because we are able to maintain the trails.”
Quality over quantity
The club currently offers 28 kilometres of groomed trails during the winter months, but Price says that is substantially below the number of trails available.
Having had a hand in developing the trails in the 1970s, Price says there are roughly 40 or 50 kilometres of ski trails in the area.
But the trails often forgotten about are not of the same the quality as trails like the Valley Loop, Boundary Trail or Korotash Hill.
“I think our trails are getting better and it’s quite widely recognized that we’ve got some of the best trails in our parts of the provinces,” said Price.
Though there are trails that were once skied – and some hardly used – Price sees no need to add to the trails anytime soon.
“We’ve got as much as we need and as much as we can handle,” he said. “The work that we’re doing now is just improving on what we have rather than adding to it.”
The majority of the work at Boundary Trail was expected to be finished yesterday.
