We’ve added a new photo album for 2014-2015 – click here. Please contribute some photos! Send photos to nicolanordic@gmail.com
Chili Sunday on 11 January 2015 was a big success – many thanks to the organizers! For photos of Chili Sunday 2015 – click here. If you have photos to contribute please send them to nicolanordic@gmail.com
Link to the You Tube video “Raising Kane” taken by Peter Sleik of his skiing in Kane Valley (the link is also on our Photo Gallery page) – click here
Been skiing in the past day or so? Leave us a comment about which route you used, what the trail was like, and anything that needs attention. You can also leave (or respond to) questions on the Kane Valley Trails or about local weather.
We’ll also use these posts to tell you what’s been groomed, what is scheduled to be groomed, and anything else club members and trail users should know about.
For instructions on how to leave a comment click here.
To read or add a comment click on the small grey Comment link immediately below. Comments from past months are available in the menu to the right.
January 29, 2015 skied from P1 to Menzies, Gulch, and Ravens Ridge from 1:15 to 3:45. There was a slight softening of snow due to marvellous sunshine on Menzies, but the rest of the trails were frozen hard. The first part of P1 is trashed by snowshoers, hard packed old ski tracks and ice under trees. Menzies was very fast in the shaded parts and actual ice puddles under trees. Hard packed old tracks on Gulch and Ravens Ridge made the gentle hills very dicey for skiing and slowing down was not pleasant.
New skiers be careful as the hard packed uneven surface is difficult for balancing, scary when slowing down and very hard when you fall.
With a weekend coming up it would be nice to see a bit of grooming on a few of the trails.
Good Morning Skiers, 🙂
It is an absolutely magnificent crystal blue, sunny sky and temp is -5. Trails maybe a bit slippery in places. Safe and happy skiing to all.
Shelley
Skied yesterday from P1 — Tracking and grooming are excellent . Kudos to the Groomer/ Groomers.
January 22, 2015
Good Morning Skiers,
It is -5 this a.m. at 8:30 am and the blue sky is trying to peek out 🙂 Roads are nicely plowed and
Darren , NNSC groomer started grooming yesterday ( 21st) and he will continue to groom and finish all trails today. It sounds like there is a warming trend coming for the weekend, so early morning skiing and a wax to suit the temperature may just be the recipe needed. I am heading out to ski Menzies and to enjoy the great outdoors 🙂
Happy Skiing,
Shelley
NNSC
The groomer was out yesterday and the skiing was good. I did the loop from P3 up to lunch box and around Gulch – following the groomer. Not sure what all has been groomed, but conditions are good and i expect most of the trails are groomed. Weather report for Monday is +12
to Sandra asking if the road has been plowed and sanded. Answer is yes. Was there yesterday and driving the Kane Valley Road was no problem.
Jan 21st, Has the road been ploughed and sanded so that I may make it there with my car?
January 18, 2015
It snowed about 6-8 inches last night. 11a.m. today it is 0 degree and raining, the secondary road on Iron Mountain is not plowed as of yet, so Kane Valley may not be plowed either. Safe travels and skiing , if you venture out in this eclectic weather day, as it may be slippery. All trails were completely groomed as of yesterday and now they are blanketed with a new cover of snow on them today. More grooming to come , once the rain subsides and the groomer can safely get out, without getting stuck. I will post the new grooming updates when in progress. Happy Sunday to all 🙂
Shelley
NNSC
January 16, 2015
Fresh snow today ( -3 at 3;30 pm). The fresh snow is a bit sugary and a nice addition to our base. NNSC Groomer, Darren is out and about grooming all the trails today and over the weekend. He is also going to remove the fallen tree across Tolko and the tracks on Harmon.
More snow is in the forecast, so grab your skis and come on out to the great Kane Valley wilderness cross-country ski trails. A gentle reminder that there is no snow shoeing on the groomed trails ( this truly creates more grooming costs for the club on a limited budget – which consists of membership & day skier dollars only and our trails are not designated for this through our agreement with the Forestry). Thank you in advance for respecting this gentle reminder and happy skiing to you.
Shelley 🙂
NNSC
Kate, Alan, Chris and I skied from P3 up to Panorama for lunch and down Harmon to a vehicle we had left at the cattleguard – very good conditions, a fast run down with a few crusty patches, softer snow up top with beautiful hoar frost on the trees.Temp. -4 all day. A great ski!
Hello fellow Skiers,
Friday Feb 20 is the second annual XploreSportZ Snow Day. I will have 40 kids ages 6-13 in Kane Valley learning snow shoeing and cross country skiing from parking lot #2.
I am looking for 2 volunteers to help with cross country skiing. Your role would be to help the kids get their gear on (there will be other helpers too) and to ski for about 40 minutes (20 minutes out and 20 minutes return) with 10-12 kids at a time. There would be 4 groups: two in the morning 10-11am, 11-12pm and two in the afternoon 1-2pm and 2-3pm. If you could help out all day or half a day, it would be greatly appreciated.
If you are interested or have any questions, please contact me, Josée Warren, at 250-315-1075 or jwarren@pacificsport.com.
What a wonderful surprise today at Chili Sunday! Thanks to you all for everything–great food, warm fire, perfect skiing conditions and weather. It is wonderful to know that so many people are enjoying the beautiful Kane Valley Ski Trails. May we all continue to do so for another 40 years!
I stopped in at Breathe Bikes in Merritt to check out the skis Travis has to rent and sell. He has complete Rossignol sets (adults and childrens) of XC waxless skis, boots and poles for sale for $250 which is a heck of a good deal. You can try these out as rentals for just $20 for the weekend. He has waxes too.
Ph: 250-936-9702 located down the alley behind the thrift store.
Good 1st ski today for us. Thanks for grooming. Looks good for Chili Sunday!
Andrea and I skied Hill’s Homestead today – beautiful conditions – just below freezing, good grooming all the way (but watch out for the set tracks on the steep hill if you are heading down Sky-high). Great to be out and it looks like conditions will remain good until Chili Sunday.
January 8th, 2015 (temp -3 to -5)
This is the grooming update for today (8th): Darren ( our fabulous grooming contractor) groomed and set the following trails: Hills Homestead, Matthew’s Loop, Chute, Kane, Tolko, Connector, Sky High, Sundown, Ravine and Aspen.
A note to all that there is a tree across the trail on Tolko ( it can be stepped over) and will be removed soon.
Happy skiing, conditions are sweet.
3 more sleeps until chili Sunday, bring yourself, your family, your friends, your neighbours and enjoy the great outdoors.
Shelley & Mike
A group of us went out and skied Matthews today. The grooming is terrific and the tracks set. The sky was blue and the sun shining and -6. A perfect day all around.
January 7th, 2015
Grooming update is a follows: Darren groomed & track set today (7th) and completed the following trails: Ravine’s Ridge. Menzies, Tillicum, Vale, ASP, Cross-Over, Gulch, Harmon, Over Easy and Matthew’s Loop.
Darren will be out tomorrow (8th) to groom and track set the East side of the trails.
Skies were sunny and bright blue today, until about 4p.m. and then a thick fog rolled in. Temp about -3.
See you all on Chili Sunday 10am-2pm at P3. ( Free lessons at 11am).
Happy skiing,
Shelley
If you are missing a set of ski poles, I should have them by tomorrow Jan 8. 378-4577
Jan. 7, 2015
Yesterday, Terry and I did a ski from P3 up Vale to Asp, and on to Ravens following in someone`s trail, and then broke a new trail along Ravens to Vale down to Teiffel`s Ldg. Lots of new snow; 7 to 9 inches on top of groomed trail and up to 18 inches in the open areas. Unfortunately the temperature was up into the mid +3 range and the snow was already very wet, heavy, and sticky; making for a tough ski. Having said all that, it was still better than staying home and doing laundry
Happy New Year from Travis of BreatheBikes!
Rentals, hot waxing, and accessories are available and store hours are 9-5 Monday-Saturday.
Daily rentals: $20 adults, $10 kids (rent on Saturday and don’t return until Monday morning)
Waxing: $20
Chili Sunday promises to be a great one! Having said that, if you or anyone you know requires rentals, please stop by for fitting and to reserve a set, as there are limited skis available.
Check us out on the FB for updates and deals 🙂
Thank you and see you on the trails!
January 4th, 2015
All trails were groomed and track set Saturday January 3rd. It has been snowing all day (6-8 inches has fallen so far and still snowing), temp around -10. All trails will be groomed and track set again for our Chili Sunday on the 11th at 11-2pm at P3. NNSC hope to see you there for this great day of skiing, gathering and eating chili by the fire in the great Kane Valley.
Shelley & Mike
January 3, 2015,
Fresh snow last night, about 3-4 inches. The temp here is about -15 ( Iron Mountain). The sun is shining beautifully and it is a gorgeous day for skiing. Our groomer, Darren is going out today to groom and set the new snow. I will report the trails he grooms and any other awareness needed for the trail systems, once he reports in.
Happy Skiing,
Shelley CH
http://www.murphyshewchuk.com/kane_snowshoe.html
In reply to JH. Thanks for your comments. For general info : above is the link from this website to a description of the snowshoe trails. There is more than meets the eye here…we can’t have signs as Kane Valley trails are under agreement with Forestry and all signs are on ski trails that are maintained to a certain width, cleared of danger trees, etc. Neither the club nor Forestry have the manpower to maintain a second set of trails for snow-shoers with signs and map. We have invited snowshoers to form a club and maintain trails in addition to the ski trails. So the ribbons are the option we choose for now, thanks to work by Murphy Shewchuck and others who explored and marked these unofficial trails. There are heaps of lakes and logging roads on Crown land for snow-shoers to explore as well.
As for beginner ski trails, they are clearly marked in green on the maps available at the trailheads: Kane and Menzies are the only 2 trails suitable for beginners due to length and steepness. Happy skiing!
I would like to give my thanks to the two snowshoers I met high up on Ravens this afternoon. They did break a trail beside the groomed ski run. It is hard to make a trail in small bushes and bumps when there is a nice groomed ski run right beside you. I didn’t see the people that broke trail up vale from p3 up but thanks to you too for staying off the groomed run. I tried to figure out where the snowshoers actually go other than walking the packed ski routes that the skiers have to pay to for.
I would also like to thank the snowshoer who was helping a first time skier on vale yesterday. He wore snowshoes rather than boots. Maybe P1 and P2 should be visually promoted for being a safe place for beginning skiers to try the sport. Maybe a logically straight hiking/cow trail should be marked as a hiking snowshoe trail from P3 to Lunch box so new snowshoers can truly experience the ability of snowshoes to get to a destination in a direct route. Signage rather than ribbons, might help with the breaking/making snowshoe trails as the trend is getting more popular every year and ski trails are logical places to go. All just thoughts as I had a great ski in a beautiful area. jh
Just skied P1-Raven’s Ridge-Tillicum-Asp-P1. -2C, no wind. Beautifully groomed and great snow, especially considering the irregular weather in the past month.
We had a great ski this afternoon from P1 up Ravens and around. The snow is excellent and the tracks are set and the sunset spectacular.
There are snowshoe tracks all over the freshly groomed trails:( …. Please please please remind everyone that this is not OK- I believe there is a link on our website for some snowshoe trails. We are happy to share the shelters but the snow shoe tracks really do bugger up the groomed trails. Also, please send in memberships (forms also linked on our site). This is our only source of grooming dollars.
Kane Valley remains a winter wonderland and enjoyed by many! Thanks to VSA for plowing out all the parking lots too!!!! We all (skiers and snowshoers) appreciate it!
Happy New Year one and all.
January 1, 2015
We removed the tree across Kane ( as reported yesterday) as of 10 am this morning. The temp is -7 and a great day to ski in the peaceful Kane Valley.
Shelley & Mike