Registrations are flying out, the track is ready, and COVID-19 procedures are in place — now all the Hallis Lake Ski Centre needs is a little snow.
The club is in the middle of a membership drive, which has seen strong results.
Cariboo Ski Touring Club director Ron Watteyne said he thinks a potential COVID-19 winter is pushing people to search for outdoor activities.
“As far as skiing goes, I think it’s the safest place to be during COVID-19,” he said. “It’s outdoors, on the ski trails in the fresh air. It can’t get any better than that.”
The membership drive is still in an “early bird” phase, with discounts for anyone who signs up before Dec. 1. A membership will cost around $110 after an insurance fee and allows for unlimited skiing during the year.
“Our fees, I know they are the lowest in B.C.,” Watteyne said. “The idea is to keep the rates low to get as many people out cross country skiing as we can … Two years ago, I skied Hallis Lake 112 times. If I paid $100, that’s less than $1 per ski.”
The biggest change skiers will see is inside the lodge. Strict occupancy limits are in place to lower the risk of any COVID-19 transmission. Watteyne said the club worked for two months to put together a plan for Northern Health to approve, adding junior and school classes are set to continue despite restrictions.
“In pre-COVID-19 times, we’d have all the kids come down to the basement and they’d all be sitting on the benches waiting to get their skis, boots and poles and all that,” he said. “That’s all changed.”
Already, the lack of access to the lodge has forced the club to change its usual activities. The normal gear swap that would be at the lodge has moved online.
“In the summertime, the bike stores ran out of bikes,” Watteyne said. “They just couldn’t get enough bikes, people were thinking we’ve got to do some exercise, and biking is a good one where you’re six feet away, in the outdoors.
Memberships can be purchased on the club’s website, caribooski.ca. The club has a live webcam to give potential skiers a chance to check out what the status of the trails are before heading out. Hallis Lake also features four kilometres of lit trails, so skiers can enjoy the trails even when the sun is below the horizon.
Daily passes with rented equipment, including snowshoes, are also available once the snow is on the ground.
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