With a massive network of trails, including lighted trails for night skiing, Hallis Lake is the perfect location for Savannah Robinson's 24-hour ski fundraiser.
"I want to raise money to get the biathletes and the race team new jerseys," Robinson said at the Hallis Lake Lodge. "They're amazing athletes and I feel like they deserve something new and exciting to be proud of."
Robinson is hoping the community will come together to help support her ski to raise funds. She said that cross-country skiing is for anyone and, as a coach at the club she wants people to know that it's a fun and accessible way to enjoy the snow.
She's been skiing for around eight years and fell in love with it immediately. She spent a whole summer preparing for the snow to start and got right into it as soon as she could. She began taking ski lessons and started racing and competing in biathlon events.
One of her favourite skiing experiences was a group ski at night.
"We'd go in a big group and we'd off into the trails and we'd ski without our headlamps on and it was beautiful. We got to feel the snow under our feet and it really made you feel part of something," she said. "I'm usually very scared of the dark but I'm never scared of the dark when I was out skiing."
Robinson was inspired for the big ski by a trio of skiers in Prince George who did their own 24-hour ski to raise money a few years ago. She said she loved the crazy idea and she wanted to do something like it herself.
"I used to do shift work at one of the local pulp mills, I'm not a stranger to staying up at weird hours and doing weird things," she said. She's planning to sleep throughout most of the day before the 5 p.m. start time. "Definitely (going to) pace myself throughout the night. It's going to be fun because a lot of our race team kids are going to come, they want to ski at three in the morning for some reason."
Her biggest concern is failing. She knows there are going to be lots of emotions and she'll have to just push through them.
"'Can't do it' isn't an option," she said.
The athletes who are set to get new jerseys from donations towards the ski will have events each weekend in February and into March. Their ages range from six to 50.
Robinson competed in an event just before the pandemic hit that she was very nervous for as there were scouts for the national team across the trails.
"It was like Men in Black dressed up style thing and I was very scared. I wasn't really great at skiing or anything like that so I wasn't sure how it was going to go," she said. But she had tons of support at the race. "I ended up getting selected for the national team from that race, but then COVID hit, I wasn't able to go."
She said everyone should try cross-country skiing.
"It keeps you young. I haven't seen anybody unhappy here," she said.
Robinson began coaching when she was asked to take it on, she wanted to give something back because of how much skiing and the club gives her. She loves to meet people and watch people learn and grow their skills.
"Meeting people is awesome," she said. "I've met people that speak different languages, that come from different places and I get to learn their stories. And you get to really bond with people when you're teaching them. You're sharing that learning experience and that's really cool."
The 24-hour ski will begin on Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. at Hallis Lake and go until Feb. 1 at 5 p.m. The ski will be tracked and people will have the chance to join Robinson throughout the day.
"The big thing that I want to get across, especially with this 24-hour ski, is that there's nothing special about me for doing this. Like literally nothing. I just want to do this because I want to prove to myself that I can do it," she said. "So I don't want anybody to compare themselves to the fact that I'm going and skiing for 24 hours."
She emphasized that Hallis and the Cariboo Ski Touring Club are for everyone of all abilities, ages and skill levels and people should only be comparing themselves to themselves, not each other.
People can drop donations off at Hallis Lake Lodge or visit caribooski.ca.