S K I T R A C K S
Newsletter of the Bitterroot Cross Country Ski
Club
Box 431 • Corvallis, Montana 59828
A P R I L 2 0 0 9
The next meeting of the Ski Club will be
at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, April 9th
First Presbyterian Church
1220 West Main, Hamilton
For our April program, Skip Horner will be
presenting “Climbing and Skiing the Highest
peaks in the Arctic and Antarctic.” Skip has not
only climbed the Seven Summits, he has guided
clients on each of them. Just as important,
though, he can tell a good story. Don’t miss it.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
What a great season it’s been! Although it was warm
in the Valley the week of March 16th, the skiing was still
great on Sunday, March 21 with excellent spring
conditions. And now, as I write this on March 28, Mel’s
trail report sounds more like February 28th with the
forecast showing prospects of good midwinter conditions
through next week. So don’t put your skis away yet.
December is a long time from now so get out and store up
those memories of the best form of human locomotion
ever invented, while you still can.
In mentioning Mel’s trail report, I want to point out,
with thanks, that Mel and the grooming crew have been to
Chief Joe and labored on the tracks for 25 times to date.
This is an heroic effort by the crew and is much
appreciated by us and the general public.
Regarding Club business, Mel attended a meeting of
the committee that makes grants to clubs such as
BRXCSC. He reports that the committee seems to be
backing away from granting funds to buy equipment such
as snowmobiles as it has done in the past. This is
important for the Club to know since it means that
although our savings account appears flush, we must
continue to save in order to be able to afford the next
machine a few years from now. This is a new challenge
for us but we are in good shape to meet it, so long as we
continue to set money aside.
In closing, let me put in a plug for skiing at
MacDonald Pass on the trails groomed and maintained by
Last Chance Nordic Ski Club of Helena. You literally
pass within 100 yards of the start of the trails whenever
you drive to Helena. They are located on the north side of
the highway just ½ miles east of MacDonald Pass. They
consist of several well-maintained loops along with an
option of a ski to the top of the Continental Divide. I skied
them for the first time on Tuesday and enjoyed them
greatly. Within 30 minutes of viewing Charlie Russell’s
12x24 mural of “Lewis and Clark meeting the Indians at
Ross’ Hole” (i.e. present day Sula) located in the capital in
the marbled chambers of the House of Representatives,
you can be skiing away in country that is not much
changed from when they passed near there during their
historic journey. What a grand State we live in!
See you on the trails.
/s/ George Corn
By the time you read this, the grooming will be over
for the season. There still may be benches and the
emergency caches to bring in and the hut to close, which
will occur on April 17th. As of March 20, we have
groomed 24 times and while the early season was brutal,
the remainder turned out some of the best trails we have.
Thanks to Jim Aronson and Allan Meyers, the regular
crew, and Ed Hastings, Mel Holloway, Jim Swanz, Joe
Navarro, Ken Nyce and Gordon Reese (who paid me back
for digging an elephant trap early in my grooming
experience) who helped one or more times during the
season.
Thanks to all of you who have taken care of the
“facilities” by being a card-carrying member of Kay’s
group, and to everyone who took such good care of the hut
and the trails. Our sponsors are not to be forgotten. A
special “Thanks” goes out to them. We couldn’t do it
without them.
Just because we’re finishing up, you shouldn’t pass up
the opportunity for some spring skiing and crust cruising
these next few weeks. Chief Joe remains a beautiful place
throughout the year.
Thanks for everything you do and we’ll be looking
forward to seeing you at our summer work days.
/s/ Mel Mooers
The Great Cookie Heist
Linda, Stoudt, bless her heart, provides a bag full of goodies for the grooming crew every week without fail.
They are greatly appreciated and one of the main reasons we groom. A few weeks ago, she had provided some particularly delectable treats which we sampled with our lunch, saving the rest for our last pass of the day by the hut. We regularly stop there to pick up empty water containers, sheets to be laundered and to make sure everything is in shape for the coming week. We also take a brief rest and enjoy the remaining treats with a cup of hot chocolate before putting everything away and leaving for the day. On this occasion, search as we may, not a single crumb was to be found. It seems a person who will remain anonymous (you know who you are) had encouraged the consumption of our treasures by her friends. Enough to make a grown man cry. We are currently considering installing a “cookie” safe to protect those wonderful treats from someone repeating the dastardly deed.
/s/ Mel Mooers
MARCH MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
March 12, 2009 by Kay Fulton
President George Corn called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM. There were approximately 40 people in attendance.
Membership: Jack Losensky reported that there are 335 members at this point; still slightly below last year’s final total.
Treasurer’s Report: Jeane Lippert reported: Income, $2,033.40; Expenses, $1,885; Checking, $5,128.24 &
Savings, $5,802.68.
Upcoming Events and Items of Interest: Report on the Extravaganza by George, Earl Philips and Paul Sharp. All
reported that it was a great success. The winner was Norm Singley of Missoula and the business that sold the most tickets was “The Right to Bare Arms.” Earl commented on all of the effort that went into the sales by Carol Batcher and others.
Jeane Lippert reported that we made $1,877. George asked for a round of applause for Paul and thanked him for the fantastic meal, which was described. Paul, in turn, thanked Mel Mooers for taking him in and out on the snow machine and helped with the setup and cleanup. Janis Cooper had volunteered to be the photographer and had produced several sets of pictures. (Check out the pictures at http://www.bitterrootxcskiclub.net/photos.htm.) She also helped with the meal. Thanks to everyone for such great work.
Trails Report: Mel Mooers reported that there had not been much new snow, only about 3 inches. They will groom tomorrow. There may be some on Sunday. The skiing is great and many people have been trying out some untracked areas and doing some moonlight skiing.
Old Business: George pointed out the Remembrance written by Gordon Reese about Leo Joron in the March newsletter.
Leo was truly an “Ambassador for the Ski Club.” He always talked to new people on the trails or at the Cabin and gave them information and even membership applications. We should remember to follow his lead.
New Business: George read a very nice “Thank You” letter from some people from Missoula who stayed at the Cabin on February 13th and were very impressed with the entire ski area. They thanked us for doing such a good job.
Program: Toddy Perryman presented an absolutely wonderful program with beautiful pictures of her incredible trip to, through and around South America. Her trip included trains, boats and buses. It was very informative. Thanks, Toddy.