Two volunteers were out grooming the skate ski lanes Wednesday evening on snowmobiles in the cold....and the trails are looking great!
Ski trails: Skate lanes will be in good shape, and they should be nice and hard with the cold temperatures overnight. Track setting is mostly in, we haven't had volunteer capacity to finish it up on the expert loop, in the driving range, nor a couple of the new bypass trails. Sun exposure might soften things up, even in the cold, as the sun is much stronger and is melting the snow anywhere south facing that is sheltered by trees to the north.
FB/SS: The shared fat bike and snowshoe pin-flagged trail systems are reported as being hard packed and running well. Snowshoeing will be fantastic along this trail system, as there is the option of going on the soft snow, or the hard packed trails if one prefers that. Please keep in mind that our two main volunteers snowmobile grooming these pink and brown pin-flagged trail systems will be unavailable for the next few days, no guarantees the new snow predicted Friday/Saturday will be machine packed before Monday or Tuesday.
Financial support ask:
Maintaining the trail systems at Shaganappi costs money. If you visit Shaganappi in the winter, please consider some form of financial support such as donating what you can, (e transfer is best, we don't pay fees!) or becoming a supporting member to SNO, the non profit managing winter operations at Shaganappi.
Corporate donations are also very much welcomed!
Shaganappi costs and needs: It costs approximately $5K - $7K a year to simply run winter operations at Shaganappi; that money pays for fuel, machine and equipment maintenance, liability insurance, etc. We have some big ticket purchases needed for better volunteer experience and retention, such as a second and wider automated groomer with a double track setter (approx. $15K+), and better drag grooming machinery such as the possible purchase of electric snowmobiles!
Membership tally:
We have a goal of 200 paid memberships for SNO to become financially self-sustaining to cover basic winter operation costs. Membership purchases have stalled out at 57 this week, but we are very thankful to all the households who have become members in 2023, that financial support is greatly appreciated!