LTCC to groom campus trails for Nordic center
By Kathryn Reed
A Nordic center at Lake Tahoe Community College is expected to open next month.
The college board of trustees on Jan. 8 approved the creation of the South Lake Tahoe Community Nordic Ski and Snowshoe Club. This will be a pilot program run through the college’s Connect Community Education.
Megan Waskiewicz, who runs Connect Ed, told Lake Tahoe News after the meeting that when people think of alpine locations, they assume Nordic and hockey will be part of the mix.
Until now there had been no groomed cross country trails in South Lake Tahoe.
A 5-kilometer course that will go behind the college starting at the Ledbetter Terrace will be groomed. This is where the parking will be, too.
U.S. Forest Service employees will practically be able to get on the trail from their office’s front door. Forest Supervisor Nancy Gibson submitted a letter of support for the center.
Garrett Villanueva, trail building expert with the U.S. Forest Service, is part of the volunteer team of community members helping make the center a reality.
It has been quick process to get the center off the ground this season, as well as a collaborative effort.
Tyler Cannon bought equipment from the now defunct operation at Spooner Summit. He has volunteered to do the grooming.
This Google map image has the route of the LTCC Nordic trails drawn in white.
Pete Fink and Jonathan Moore with the city’s Recreation Commission spoke in favor of the center at the board meeting. Fink said he believes there is room for growth by possibly adding the Bijou meadow in the future.
He even said the college should think about having a Nordic team in the future. To which a college official said LTCC did in the past.
Waskiewicz said Lake Tahoe Unified students have gotten wind of the idea and want to start using the trails. Right now South Tahoe High School trains at Kirkwood.
Waskiewicz told the board her future goals are to have 10 kilometers of groomed trails, skate skiing and a walking path for snowshoers.
While it will cost money to use the trail, the goal this season is to see what type of interest there is. It will be an honor system to use the trails – much like parking areas have with an envelope to pay the fee. Passes will be available during the week at the Connect Ed off on campus. Day use will be $5, with an individual season pass costing $29.
Feb. 1 is the target date for the Nordic center to be open.
Good timing with the current winter conditions.
Great, I’ll definitely be trying it. Hope they can expand the range – it gets more enjoyable the more miles you have to explore.
I haven’t checked yet to see if they’re already doing this or planning it, but I’d like to see if they could lay out some groomed XC ski track in Van Sickle state park too.
It should be noted that Camp Richardson’s website advises their miles of groomed cross country ski trails remain open, with ski rentals also available.
Great idea! SLT needs a X-country and snowshoe area! It has never made sense as to why people must venture outside of city limits to Camp Rich or Hope Valley for these activities (Bye bye tax dollars). Glad to see someone is making it happen.
The city did groom trails from fairway dr. to al tahoe blvd. That trail went through bijou meadow and golf course in the early 90’s.
Lou Pierini,
My thoughts exactly on using that meadow that Bijou Golf Course is built on. I’ve skied it in years past and it’s great. That meadow runs from Fairway all the way to Pioneer Trail.
The golf shack at the golf course could be used as a rental office for ski equipment, buy sunscreen and a snack or a hot drink, plus as a place to get warm. There’s plenty of parking and it’s centrally located.
Just a thought, Old Long Skiis
Excellent! I can’t wait!
Going to Camp Richardson today. Guess the writer forgot about them, they ARE in South Lake Tahoe.
We look forward to using the LTCC tracks.
(btw…I like tracked, and untracked areas myself).
This is a great idea and I can’t wait to get out there. For this, or any other, cross country center to be a long term community asset we must all agree to do one thing; PAY. The temptation will be to enter the trail anywhere along its course without paying the trail fee. If too many people do this the operaters cannot make enough money to cover their costs and the trail grooming will end and the center will close. There is a mind set in Tahoe that living here gives one certain privileges; that things other people have to pay for should be free to Tahoe “locals”. This is a bad business model and is economicaly un-sustainable.
If you think the cross country center at LTCC is a good idea and if you plan on skiing there and if you would like to see it succeed, please pay the trail fee.
A little geography lesson: Camp Rich is in El Dorado County; LTCC is in South Lake Tahoe.
Kathryn Reed, LTN publisher
Yes, that is true, at least the main part is not in the City. AFAIK, the trails from the Camp Rich ski building, going southerly, do enter into the city, not sure. We are just now back from skiing there a few miles. Coyotes brought down a substantial sized deer earlier, btw.
HOWEVER, if Camp Rich is not in South Lake Tahoe (the city); is it, or is it not, part of South Lake Tahoe, the area?
Go to google maps and search for the “city of south lake tahoe”.
You’ll see the city boundary is at the west end of the Keys subdivision.
Fantastic! I am an old Nordic ski racer and Far West/high school coach. Nordic skiing trails of any kind will be attractive but you won’t be able to keep foot traffic and dog walkers off. And remember we don’t always have enough snow to set track. But when tracks are there and I’m not in a back country mood l will buy my pass and ski there.
Lynn
I do not see a contact email address for Megan or Garrett. If you are interested in helping out, who do you contact to become part of this “volunteer team”? I have skied in Montana, where they had trails maintained by the local cross country ski club and it seemed to work very well.
thx
If you are interested in joining our volunteer team for the Nordic Center, please contact Megan @ waskiewicz@ltcc.edu. Thank you for all the comments, suggestions and feedback! Stay tuned for our opening date annnouncement.