Season off to an early start for Kincardine Cross-Country Ski Club

After an exceptionally-mild fall, winter has come with a bang.

Members of the Kincardine Cross-Country Ski Club are thrilled at having to shovel the white stuff, and are also enjoying an early start to skiing at Stoney Island Conservation Area, after sulking over a green Christmas for the past three years.

During the past year, volunteers have worked several hundred hours, clearing rocks, improving drainage with ditches and culverts, and widening trials in many places.

They have begun work on a new trail for beginners – especially youngsters attending the primary schools in town. The hope is to have this Home Trail completed next summer. The ski club has just received a wonderful anonymous donation of $1,000 from a Kincardine resident, which will be used to complete this new trail with gravel, culverts, and a bridge.

The ski club is located at Stoney Island Conservation Area, five kilometres north of the Kincardine hospital on the B-line (Bruce County Road 23). Skiers and snowshoers have about eight kilometers of trails to explore, stretching down to the lake.

For insurance and safety purposes, the club asks walkers and people walking their dogs not to use the trails during the ski season. The trails are already groomed and being used daily. Beginners’ equipment is available to borrow for the day from the club hut, free of charge.



Members of the Kincardine Cross-Country Ski Club work to fix up the trails during the summer, with the new Home Trail planned for completion next summer; photo courtesy of Glen Norcliffe