Brief history of the PHOENIX CROSS COUNTRY SKI SOCIETY
The PCCSS was started by a group of nordic ski enthusiasts in the 1970s. Some of the founding members were Jock Mackay and Betty-Anne Mackay from Grand Forks and Steve Stewart from Midway. The trails were initially groomed by the Ministry of Forests back when they still did that sort of thing. The machine operator’s name was Bob Keep and he still lives in Grand Forks. With changes to the Ministry in the 1980s the club was obliged to assume the grooming duties and in the 1990s bought a used snowmobile. This machine helped volunteers groom for many years until the club contracted grooming services more recently to Rick Bennett. At that time our snowmobile was deemed redundant and was gifted to the Phoenix Mountain Alpine Ski Society.
The Dacha shelter, at the top of our trail system was built by a group of volunteers in 2000. It was built using mostly repurposed materials and wood rails from the adjacent forest. Some of the people involved were Steve Faminoff, Louise Heck, Gary Weare, Larry Hudema, Lincoln Ford, Liz Huxter and Brian Fletcher. It was originally intended to be of use to skiers using the trail system but has since been used by a variety of recreational users including nordic skiers, ice fishers, cyclists, snowshoers and hikers. For decades the club was run by many of the same individuals. It became evident that if the club was to move forward it would need to attract younger members. So we went on a membership drive and developed a junior ski program which were successful in attracting much needed new blood. The years of Covid19 [2020-2022] restrictions were especially critical in attracting new members to our club.
Recent developments of our club were;
1/ developing a website with membership registration, program enrollment and payment platform.
2/ initiation of adult and junior skill development programs.
3/ purchase of ski and roller-ski equipment for junior programs.
4/ purchase of a snow cat groomer with a grant from the RDKB.
5/ successful application of several smaller grants.
6/ hiring of a certified coach to lead our ski programs.