Some unusual news to report today. 

Starting Wednesday and until Oct. 4, the Yellowknife Ski Club chalet will serve as a temporary isolation centre for people who are required to isolate, and who need some extra supports to do so.  

The chalet will be closed to all members during that time. Visitors to the trails will notice new, temporary red fencing that surrounds the front of the chalet (facing the stadium). As those isolating are required to stay within the building, this fence serves to demarcate where they can be outdoors. The fences area includes the upper deck and a bit of legroom approaching the stadium fence. 

The trails remain accessible to all members, either through the fence near the grooming shed or via the biathlon range. 

No programming will be affected. Dryland training for High Performance skiers, and for Track Attack skiers, who were scheduled to begin the season on Saturday, will carry on outdoors for now. Programming for our younger skiers typically begins in late November. 

Two blue Porta Potties will be installed outside the chalet, near the Jonas Konge garage, strictly for member use while the chalet is unavailable. 

Why’d we do this? 

On Friday, Sept. 10, the Yellowknife Ski Club was approached by the NWT government’s emergency management office about renting the chalet for this purpose. The board held an emergency meeting Friday night and agreed unanimously to support this request. 

The feeling was that the GNWT has lent its support to our club for years, and here was an opportunity to do the same in return, at a time when the chalet is typically underutilized. As a club, we value the health and well-being of our community and are pleased to share what we have to help enhance that. 

Board member John Stephenson has since worked with several GNWT staff to draft an enhanced rental contract and establish some ground rules that the board feels will protect our club, our members and our chalet. 

These include, on our part: closing up the kitchen and the small room with all the tables/chairs; removing programming equipment to an outdoor shed so it remains accessible; temporarily stowing the photographs on the walls upstairs; and changing the door code so that nobody unwittingly enters the chalet. 

On the GNWT’s behalf, this includes: hiring someone to clean every other day during the rental; containing those in isolation to the chalet’s upstairs; installing an outdoor, self-contained portable unit that contains showers (and thus won’t overtax our water supply); committing to take care of any damage incurred; and adding signage outside the chalet to alert visitors to the situation. 

The board would like to thank the membership for its support in this endeavour. 

Any questions to the ski club can be directed to: ykskiclubcommunications@gmail.com. 

Questions for the GNWT should go to: Jay Boast at jay_boast@gov.nt.ca 

Registration for Yellowknife Ski Club programs typically opens in late October/early November. You’ll find a notice here as well as on our Facebook page and via our mailing list (subscribe here). 

Our Jackrabbits and Bunnyrabbits programs for children four and up generally start in late November. Read more about the Jackrabbits and Bunnyrabbits program here, including our primers on what equipment you’ll need for kids. Our Track Attack program for youth aged 9-13 also welcomes new skiers. Read more on that group here. The ski club welcomes all young skiers: the more kids who wanna ski, the more parent volunteers we’ll recruit to make it happen. 

Program participants must be members of the club. Read up on membership and its many benefits here. 

We typically offer adult ski lessons starting in December. Watch this space for details. 

If you’re new to skiing and want to talk to someone about programs, please reach our Programs Director Bernadette Knox at ykskiclubprograms@gmail.com. 

If you’d like to talk to someone about volunteering, or taking a coaching course, reach our Volunteer Director Alyssa Titus at ykskiclubvolunteerdirector@gmail.com.