| Cross-country skiers will likely have to wait until summer to find out the provincial government's future plans for ski trail grooming in Kananaskis Country.
The provincial budget is due to be released April 8, but final details for specific areas of spending, such as trail grooming, won't be determined until the summer season's programs are up and running, according to Kathy Telfer, a communications officer with the community development department.
Recently, skiers and representatives from ski clubs using the cross-country trails in Kananaskis have met with government officials to express their concerns about the potential effect of leaving the approximately 225 kilometres of trails ungroomed and not track-set for long periods of time.
This winter, grooming and track-setting was not done as often as in previous years, due in part to the closing of a work camp program for minimum security offenders, which is not under the jurisdiction of the community development department. Workers from this camp performed some trail maintenance duties in the park, allowing government staff to complete tasks requiring more skills, such as grooming and setting tracks for ski trails, Telfer says.
"With the loss of the work crews, we had to take another look at how we manage the area," she says. "We did maintain the trails as close to previous levels as possible given the resources available to us.
"We were able to do it about one time per week. That seemed to work for us."
Groomed and track-set trails not only make cross-country skiing easier, but safer as well. Seniors and children would be hardest hit if the grooming and track-setting frequency drops off.
Telfer did not have any statistics on trail use on hand, but it's fair to say that thousands of people ski in the Kananaskis area each winter.
"It’s very popular with all age groups and levels of experience," she says.
Recreational skiers would also lose out if the track-setting frequency dwindles. Breaking trail can be tough work and can limit the amount of fun the activity holds – without track-set trails, skiers tend to go in all directions or their skis are continuously getting stuck under the snow.
"I wouldn't have much of a desire to go there to ski if I had to break trail," one recreational skier told me. "Then it’s not fun, it’s hard-core physical activity."
Cross-country ski trails ranging from beginner level to advanced can be found throughout K-country at the following provincial parks: Canmore Nordic Centre, Sheep Valley, Peter Lougheed, Spray Valley, Elbow River Valley and Evan Thomas Recreation Area.
Earlier this year, Community Development Minister Gene Zwozdesky was part of a national meeting of provincial and territorial ministers responsible for sport that set a target to increase activity levels by 10 per cent in each jurisdiction by 2010. The ministers said they would address "barriers to accessibility that hinder Canadians' ability to be physically active in life settings, including recreation and sport."
This government has shown a penchant for taxing users of recreation areas and facilities through user-fees – remember when camping and firewood were free? There’s no reason to believe paying for trail grooming, or even hiking on the trails, will be spared from a similar fate. So much for removing barriers.
The Calgary Area Outdoor Council urges those with an interest in this topic to write a letter to MLAs encouraging the government to continue with its grooming and track-setting duties. Anyone interested in donating cash to trail work in K-country should visit the Friends of Kananaskis Country Web site at www.kananaskis.org. |
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