The Golden Nordic Club is one of the Chamber’s many Non-profit members. These organizations complete the fabric of our community and provide many of the services we count on and love.
What you may not know is the Golden Nordic Ski Club runs and operates our beloved Dawn Mountain Nordic Centre. They coordinate volunteers to clean up the trails in the summer, groom in the winter and run some stellar events.
The last few weeks they put together the Dawn Mountain Challenge, a COVID appropriate replacement for the Huckleberry Loppet. The volunteers organized a great event. While not as big and exciting as the Loppet, it gave skiers of all abilities an opportunity to test their skills. Hopefully, the buzz of a well organized race will be back in the Valley soon enough, for now though, we all appreciate what they’ve been able to do.
I caught up with Phil Carson, President of the Nordic Club, to chat COVID-19 changes, groomer fundraisers and Dawn Mountain.
Q: What are you missing the most this season?
A: We’re all definitely missing the social aspects of the chalet and the occasional glass of wine after a moonlight ski. But it is SO nice to see our community out on the trails, smiling and moving safely.
Q: I hear you're in need of a new groomer?
A: That’s right. We have two at the moment and they are both past their best years (they are 17 years and 32 years old). We broke an axle on one this year and our fingers are crossed that we won’t have some catastrophic failure before we can buy a new groomer. The club has already saved one third of the cost of a new machine but we are looking to the community to help us reach our goal. Every donation helps and allows us to keep doing all the amazing things the club does.
Q: How does someone get involved with your organization?
A: Just email
[email protected] . We are always excited to have new members and volunteers.
Q: Anything else to add?
A: Our volunteers are AMAZING! We are entirely volunteer run and have never appreciated their dedication to our club more than through this tricky time.
For those of you who don’t use the Nordic Centre yourselves, they still provide a big economic impact to town. The trails provide an ongoing tourism asset and the yearly club budget is all spent locally. Better yet, they have lessons available if you've wanted to get in on the fun and need a little help getting started.