Plenty of snow is usually a good thing for the Larch Hills cross-country ski trails, but January鈥檚 snowfall and the accompanying downed trees has been a challenge for those who maintain the area.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been really difficult,鈥� said Larch Hills Nordic Society president Ed Bouma. 鈥淚 would say we鈥檝e probably removed between 700 and 800 trees so far, and they鈥檙e still coming down.鈥�
Bouma says it won鈥檛 be until the summer when trees downed on some of the trails that aren鈥檛 trackset can be removed.
Volunteers with the necessary experience have been assisting with the tree removal 鈥� a job that is not without risk. For example, while two people were cutting up two trees near one another on Larch Hills Road, another tree fell between them.
鈥淲hen that happened, we were warning everybody, make sure you鈥檙e aware of your surroundings, look around, don鈥檛 be having a lunch underneath a leaning tree and all that kind of stuff,鈥� said Bouma.
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As for the snow itself, depth measurements for the ski area dating back to 2007 show January 2020 to be a record month. As of Jan. 9, the area around Cec鈥檚 Cabin had received 133 centimetres of snow, the summit 142 cm, the south hub 123 cm and the parking lot 99 cm. The last year measurements approached those numbers in January was in 2009, when Cec鈥檚 Cabin received 114 cm, the summit 137 cm, the south hub 89 cm, and the parking lot 71 cm.
鈥淲hen you go up to the south hub and ski up to Cec鈥檚鈥� It鈥檚 like a wall of snow up there,鈥� said Bouma. 鈥淥n each side of Larch Hills Road, it鈥檚 like 50to 60 feet of snow. It鈥檚 so heavy on the trees it almost forms like a wall. You鈥檝e never seen anything like it.鈥�
The snow and downed trees had Larch Hills volunteers scrambling to get the trails ready for the first of the Teck Cup BC series event, Jan. 4-5. Bouma said the trails will be ready to go for the 36th annual Reino Keski-Salmi Loppet on Saturday, Jan. 25.
鈥淭he snow right now is fantastic,鈥� said Bouma, pointing out the silver lining to the recent snowfall. 鈥淏ecause there鈥檚 a lot of it and it鈥檚 fairly fresh snow, it鈥檚 really nice to ski in.鈥�
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