Droves of XC skiers hit local trails

Cross-country skiing is one of the many outdoor activities that have suddenly surged in popularity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this budding interest is bringing some changes to the landscape around Bigfork.

The North Shore Nordic Club maintains more than 10 kilometers of groomed Nordic trails at the Bigfork Community Nordic Center on the corner of Foothill Road and Jewel Basin Road. The club also grooms cross-country ski tracks up on Blacktail Mountain in Lakeside.

While their work has been appreciated by the local ski community for many years, the club has recently seen a new wave in recreating along the snowy trails.

The North Shore Nordic Club doesn’t keep track of trail usage, and club members groom the trails five days a week without charging a fee to use the land under their care. So there’s no way for club leaders to know for sure whether their trails are getting busier, but all indications seem to suggest it’s been a busy season so far.

“I would think in general, yes,” said Dave Hadden when asked about growing trail use. He pointed out sporting goods stores have reported a major uptick in demand for any and all gear related to snow sports.

Hadden couldn’t say exactly how many people might be found on the Little Jewel Trail or the Peters Ridge Run Loop east of Echo Lake, but he guessed the number of skiers on the North Shore Nordic Club’s many routes is somewhere in the hundreds.

“People come from all over the valley, from out of town,” he noticed, anecdotally.

And in his estimation, those figures are only climbing.

Last week, with the first serious snowfall of the winter season, skiers seemed to be pouring out of the woodwork and onto the snow near Bigfork. The Jewel Basin Road parking lot was already overflowing by mid-morning on Wednesday, Feb 17.

Hadden said the Bigfork Community Nordic Center is “open to anybody with skis or snowshoes,” and the club is happy to accommodate skiers of all interest and ability levels.

But he urged recreationalists to respect the intended use of the ski-specific property.

Snowshoers are welcome on the trails, as long as they stay to the side of the groomed tracks. Hikers, meanwhile are asked to recreate elsewhere during the winter. Dogs are not allowed in the ski areas.

“We pay a hefty fee to lease those trails from the DNRC (Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation),” Hadden explained. “We are grooming them for skiers and snowshoers. If people would respect what we’re trying to do there, that would be pretty good.”

He added grooming the trails is “a labor of love.” The North Shore Nordic Club is funded simply by donations and the passion of club members; the trails are some of the only groomed cross-country terrain that’s free to use in all of Northwest Montana.

The sudden deluge of new trail users has made it a little trickier to maintain the designated purpose of the ski tracks, Hadden noted.

He said the club “always” runs into issues with people who want to hike or bring their dogs on the trails, but the circumstances this year have led to more misunderstanding than perhaps ever before.

Some new recreationalists are naturally still learning the rules at the Bigfork Community Nordic Center. It doesn’t help that the season’s first big snowfall came mid-way through February, so, Hadden pointed out, some hikers were used to frequenting the trails that are now reserved for snow sports.

But fortunately, most trail users are reporting an enjoyable time out on the snow, free from any serious confrontations.

When asked about unauthorized users Wednesday, longtime skier Jetta Johnson said “I haven’t seen a one.”

“There are a lot of people out, and they’re all friendly and in a good mood,” she said.

Others agreed. “So far, I never have [seen any inappropriate users],” said Laura Reynolds later on Wednesday.

She and two other skiers regularly drive down from Kalispell to use the Bigfork Community Nordic Center.

One of her ski buddies, Walter Rown Tree, said the overall atmosphere has been so pleasant and respectful, a groomer even stopped and thanked him for snow-shoeing to the side of the ski tracks when he was out a few days earlier.

To learn more about the North Shore Nordic Club and to donate, visit the club’s website at www.northshorenordic.org.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.