The eyes of the nation will be on Otway Nordic Centre for two weeks in February during the Canada Winter Games and thousands of spectators will have the chance to take part in the action.
The Otway trails will be put to the test
for biathlon during the first week of the Games, Feb. 15-21 and cross-country skiing will be featured during the second week, Feb. 23-28.
The good news for recreational skiers hoping to take advantage of the ski conditions is they can still do that while the races are on. With 55 kilometres of trails available, the Otway facility has plenty of territory to keep the casual skiers separated from the racers.
"The trails outside of the competition trails will be open during the Games and what we've agreed to with the host society is that even following competitions we will have access to the competition trails," said Kevin Pettersen, president of the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club.
"There might be some temporary closures if it's required for grooming but in recognizing that's prime time for skiing, we wanted to ensure that our facility will be open for members."
The two west parking lots, one of which was cleared this summer, as well as the expanded Dog Trail parking lot, will serve skiers and snowshoers who want to avoid the crush of activity near the lodge area while the races are on."
The Caledonia club's rental office at the ground level of the main lodge will also be open during the Games for ski and snowshoe rentals.
Until the rain and record-breaking warm weather arrived on Tuesday the trails at Otway were in great shape with plenty of snow cover. But by Wednesday the trails were closed and the stadium area in front of the Rotary Lodge resembled a shallow lake.
"We're keeping our fingers crossed for snow," said Pettersen. "We're advising people not to ski. It's fairly unsafe with these icy conditions."
The club now has about 1,500 members,a few hundred shy of the record 1,873 members who joined for the 2013-14 season. Pettersen expects membership numbers will continue to climb with each snowfall.
Pettersen said the club focused in the off-season on trying to improve drainage in the stadium area and removing brush from trails to minimize the amount of snow needed for safe skiing. Several trails - Further Up the Creek, Hickory Wing and Sawmill Loop - were cleared of trees and widened to allow more snow to collect on the trails. A large section of the Dog Trail was widened to allow better access to the Northern Lights trail.
The club has invested in another $235,000 Pistenbully 100 groomer. The 3.1-metre wide machine is expected to arrive just before Christmas on order from the factory in Germany.
"This will allow us to have that capacity when we have heavy snowfall so we can get the competition trails groomed quickly and then also take care of the recreational trails," said Pettersen. "We just didn't feel we were providing the level of service needed with just one groomer. It helps reduce the risks when we're hosting something like the Canada Games. The experience we had two years ago with the groomer breaking down is fresh in our minds."
