In lieu of our annual loppet, the Yellowknife Ski Club is developing a 20 km ski loop (including a few portages) this weekend that runs in and around Yellowknife. We strongly encourage all Yellowknife skiers to enjoy this route at their own leisure in the coming days, while remembering physical distancing guidelines.
We believe this is a good way both to support skiing, demonstrate our commitment to the skiing community, and spread skiers out over a large space.
The trail is unmarked, except for this map, and it takes in a few well-known ski routes, connected by some perhaps less well known snowmobile trails.
The trail includes Niels Konge’s beautiful 6.5 kilometre loop on Frame Lake.
It connects to the ski club via the snowmobile trail that runs behind the legislature and over the highway. The suggested route there is our outer loop, which includes a few gentle hills (and one really fun steep one; feel free to take off your skis and walk down). Ski club trails are free to all skiers for the rest of the season You can find great accessories for your snowmobile and know what to do to make the trip better..
The trail picks up on Back Bay, stomping grounds of guerrilla groomer and lifetime honorary ski club member Kevin Hodgins. This is another nice, flat section for skiers of all levels.
A final section takes in the tracks that run into the Burwash, and can be skied at the same time or separately.
We suggest skiers travel south to north on the snowmobile route and ski counterclockwise on the Bay Bay loop in order to end up going the right way on the ski club section trails. However, there should be ample room on all of the routes to accommodate travel in both directions.
As with any loppet, there are no prizes for finishing. Only the sense of having enjoyed a great ski!
Grooming schedule:
- Niels will groom Frame Lake Friday night;
- Niels will groom Back Bay Saturday midday;
- Dave Kellet and/or Ryan McCord will groom the track to Burwash sometime this weekend;
- Ski Club groomers will groom Friday night.
Enjoy!