THUNDER BAY — Kamview Nordic Centre still has most of its trails open, and officials are recommending morning skiing while taking advantage of the end of the season.
“The conditions the last week have been just fantastic. It's been super great spring skiing, especially with the dump of snow that we got the week before,” said Dave Suttie, general manager of Kamview Nordic Centre.
“Now that we're getting quite a bit (of) sunnier days and into double digits, things are starting to deteriorate pretty fast. Your best bet now is to try and ski in the morning before things warm up because it gets pretty soft and soupy when you're skiing when it's really warm,” he said.
Suttie said he has been grooming about 75 per cent of the place.
“I don't groom all trails every day. We just take picks of six or seven that we'll do daily. I think after today, we're going to definitely be down to not grooming quite as much.”
It’s hard to say how long the trails will stay open, he said.
“It's a day-by-day thing. Chalet will be open tomorrow. They're calling for rain on Sunday, so we're not 100 per cent sure what's going to happen with the chalet on Sunday.
“I'll have to assess things on Sunday because there is still a bit of snow around, but again, it gets harder to groom and it's icy and bare spots ... become a bit of a safety issue, but we'll assess it again on Sunday night and see what's going to happen for next week,” he said.
Suttie said around this time last year Kamview closed.
“I don't think we're going to be super far off, but we probably get into next week sometime.”
Suttie has groomed out at Kamview up until May 5, which was around three years ago.
He described the difference in conditions from last year to this year as ‘night and day.’
“We are definitely a little bit on the slow side getting going because it took a little bit more to get the snow, but once we got the snow, things really picked up,” he said.
Siblings Andrea and Michael Conway were out skiing at Kamview on Friday morning.
“We're doing different types of skiing,” Michael said.
“My sister does classic and I do skate skiing, and as long as you're on the right trails that (Suttie) groomed, they're just fine. Honestly there's a window of opportunity to be here. It’s right now. This afternoon when it gets really warm, it won't be the same,” he said.
The extended spring skiing has made up for the missed days in January when it was too cold out, Michael said.
Andrea said the conditions were amazing on Friday morning.
“Boy, Dave did a fantastic job of grooming,” she said.
Andrea said she started coming out to Kamview Nordic Centre when it first opened many years ago.
“I left for 13 years and came back almost three years ago and immediately got back out here,” she said.
It's hard to compare (this year) to the previous years because of the extension, Andrea said.
“I think it's just, well, it feels like one of the best.”
