It is always a thrill to hear skiers from afar say how wonderful they think our Larch Hills are.
Last Tuesday, I met a gal in the chalet who asked me for info on the backcountry skiing in our ski area. She is with a group from Ontario who has been coming out to Silver Star and Sovereign for a number of years and decided to try Larch Hills. I am involved with two backcountry groups – the Wenches on Wednesdays and the Geezers on Thursdays – so I invited her and her group to join. As for the Tuesday, I suggested skiing up Treebeards over to White Pine Walk and down Greenway. Come Thursday, as the Geezers were skiing up Sidehill Salmon beyond the North Hub, we were joined by Donna and her Ontario group. She reported that the Tuesday ski was beautiful – blown away by the deep snow and old-growth forest. We skied together over to Clearcut Connection to Larch Lake Loop, then the gang skied the Whoopees before heading down to the chalet. Shortly after, the Larch Hills website received this note from Donna: “Hi: We are a group from Ontario who were skiing with some of your members this week. I believe it was with the ‘geezers’ group.
“We had an incredible day and want to thank everyone who so kindly assisted us and provided us with a wonderful overview of your club. We plan to return next year!” An exciting discovery for them and warm fuzzies for us.
Related: Trail Tales: Nordic society excited to unveil Larch Hills chalet
The grand opening of the Chalet Expansion on Jan. 3 was quite the party! The chalet was packed with skiers, contractors, volunteers and Larch Hills members there to celebrate the completion of this huge project. A slide show of the various stages of the construction of the expansion ran in the corner while Suzy Beckner, on behalf of the expansion committee, gave thanks to the folks involved in the project. Congratulations from the City of Salmon Arm and the Province of BC were preceded by a welcome by Neskonlith elder Louis Thomas. Jim Beckner gave a comprehensive history of the chalet from its birth as a small log building in the woods in 1978 to its lovely expanded self of today. The celebratory event wound up with a huge cake and lots of visiting.
Related: Trail tales: Be sure to try the bogs
Saturday, Jan. 19 was the 35th anniversary of the Reino Keski-Salmi Loppet. The idea for a ski marathon was conceived by Maureen Defoe back in 1985 and we have been going strong ever since.
The loppet has become a community event with all three Salmon Arm Rotary clubs involved and dozens of volunteers, both on the hill and at the social and Awards at the Community Centre later in the day. More than 500 skiers on the start line, in various age categories and skiing various distances, attests to the popularity of our event. We are so proud to honour local national/international level champion skier, Reino Keski-Salmi, who was killed in a helicopter crash while on a forest firefighting crew summer 1985. This loppet, which celebrates cross-country skiing for all ages and stages, is the perfect tribute to our home-grown hero.
Think snow!
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