Hi Folks,  This is the entire newsletter.  I should have the same
thing posted on our website tonight.  

http://www.panhandlenordicclub.com

Next Meeting is Jan 2, 7PM at the Fernan Ranger Station
(program details are at the end of the emai)

Panhandle Nordic Ski and Snowshoe Club
Newsletter for January 2007
President’s Message

December 2006 has been a wild ride. The fifteen inches of early
snow that our trail groomers packed at the Fourth of July Ski
Area was assaulted with rain and falling tree parts.

A windstorm blew in leaving its litter and tree falls. Van, Skip
and the Forest Service crew worked their way through the fallen
trees to reopen the area.

The rain followed by a week of cold set the area up like
concrete, but Skip and Van were there to disc the ice into a
surface that could be skied.

Mother nature shot back with a once in decades windstorm that
laid low yet another crop of fallen trees and then followed it
with another week of cold. Undaunted the Forest Service crew and
our trail groomers cut out the fallen trees and scoured the ice
into a surface more conducive to skiing.

When snow came before Christmas, they were up on the trails
grooming and tracking it for the holiday, but rain again
adversely affected the product of their work.

Having ridden the grooming machines at Fourth of July, I know
that most skiers using the area express their appreciation as the
machines drive carefully by them. Oh, the occasional paying
customer complains that the trails are not perfectly groomed for
their every visit.

If these few only conceived a fraction of the hard work that Van
Bennett, Skip Truscott, the Forest Service crew and the other
supporters put in to make the Fourth of July area operate every
winter for the enjoyment of its users, they might have the wisdom
to hold their tongues.

A December like December 2006 tests and proves our groomers’
dedication. If you are out on the prepared tracks as the groomers
drive past, give them your thanks that they deserve from us all.

At our next meeting on Tuesday January 2nd, we will have the
final planning for Free Ski day, January 6th. We plan to have the
warming hut manned through the day and the fires blazing both in
the hut and at the fire ring. We will make the final arrangements.

There will be trip planning and reports from the crew as well. We
will start the Rock Soup Event planning for early February and
the Poker Ski Event planning as well.

We have been working towards a program the Scotchman’s Peak Area
of the West Cabinet Mountains, east of Sandpoint, but a larger
issue came up this past month.

For several years we have nursed along the old Alpine Snow Cat
that grooms the area. About five years ago we acquired a new
machine, which allowed us to expand the area and create new
skiing opportunities on the 905 Loop and this year out Roads 614
and 1575.

Many of you know we are working to groom an area out Road 614 for
skate skiers and at least make accessible the country beyond Rose
Saddle for more primitive skiing experiences. The sad fact is
that the old snow cat will not support our needs and may not
survive to see our goals achieved. The old girl is certainly
obsolete, may be a museum piece and certainly is not going to
support the type of grooming the club members see in the future
at the area.

We have a machine in mind that will do what we require.
The cost is in the neighborhood of $25,000 with tax.

The answer to new equipment needs has always been developing and
successfully obtaining an Idaho Parks and Recreation Grant. We
set out on this course again recently, but ran into a new and
major impediment along this path. The program requires a 50%
match for equipment.

So how do you raise $12,500, when you are a modest sized group of
folks? We have some ideas, but the collective group may have some
better ideas. I would like to give over the usual program time
for brain storming session on just this subject. We need your
help to find a solution to this hurdle early so we can move
forward as an an equal partner, when we apply for funds from the
state. I hope you will all turn out and lend a hand. You may have
the answer the club is looking for.