Ski season is here and there isn’t a mountain in sight. But I’ve discovered that longing for a terrain that is simply not central Alberta is just one more excuse to not get outdoors. Just like, I would … but I have kids. So what?!? I think it was our scandanavian friends who said there is no bad weather just bad clothing. I would extend this further to say… just bad clothing and bad planning.
So to make it easy for all of you I have used my own kids as guinea pigs to make all the mistakes so you don’t have too. This week we went to the Pembina Nordic Ski trails for a short morning ski excursion. The total time we took was about two hours give or take. This was our first time on the trails, and my bar for the trip was set so low we have nowhere to go but up.
Our destination was a viewpoint overlooking the North Saskatchewan River. We chose this route because it was a short distance, it is a beautiful view, and the trail is not used often and so my brats wouldn’t muck up the grooming job too much with their flailing style of skiing.
Plan your trip
Even though you are a stone’s throw from Drayton Valley, you don’t want to have to turn the car around for water, a snack or a fresh pull-up or underwear. An extra minute of planning will go a long way to making the excursion fun and enjoyable for all parties.
First off if you are taking young kids, dress warmer than you normally would for an adult only cross country skiing excursion. You will be going much slower and your heart rate will be much lower. Second, plan and pack for the expected and the unexpected, bring the usual snacks, water, and a few extra gear items like gloves, and socks, but also have something special planned for your stop at the view point. We brought some cookies and oranges. I brought this all in a small hiking backpack. This left enough room for the kids to remove layers if they wanted, and had enough straps to carry skis and poles if needed.
The cut across trail is 330m one way, plus a small walk on a single track trail to get to the viewpoint. The trail is on a slight slope going uphill on your way to the viewpoint and downhill on the return. This was not the first time my kids tried their nordic skis. We spent some time skiing in our yard, and exploring snow covered parks in Drayton Valley. We found MacKenzie Park was a great starting point to learn how to navigate some small hills. There are three sizes of hills to choose from and they were not so big that the kids had a yard sale going down or whine fest going up. Practicing close to home got the kids familiar with nordic skiing and gave them some confidence on their skis before we ventured too far from home.
How to get there
From Hwy 22 you turn East onto Twp 494, you will head east for about 5km, taking you through the 4-way stop. On the south side of the road you will see a small off road parking place and a rather large kiosk. This is the first entrance to Nordic Ski trails. The kiosk will show you a map of the trails.
Beyond this access point you will come across three additional access points that can also take you to the trails. But for this little adventure you will hop out here. Once on the trails you will see a cut across trail that you and your family will take.
So when we first got to the trails I had to have a conversation with myself to keep my expectations really, really low. “Brandy, it’s okay if we go 10 ft and the kids decide they want to turn around. Let them set the pace.” With that in mind it took us about 40 minutes to get to the view point. On the way there we played train with my poles, this game is where I pull the kids like a choo choo. I encouraged my daughter to go ahead to do a recon mission and see if any animals were there.
At the end of the cut across you will ski across the main trail and to the slightly right. The walking path is not marked and if this is your first time visiting it might require a little searching around. Take off your skis and walk 20 ft – 30 ft or so and prepare to be amazed.
At the viewpoint the North Saskatchewan River Valley opens up before you. Below there is a snow covered inlet with game tracks, and in the distance you can see the area of the bow range and the Hilltop and Hillside trails, and of course, the river.
On the way back we ran into my good friend Jill who added an extra element of fun by pulling my daughter at lightning speeds back to the trial head. My son took more of a slow and steady approach.
If you were to take this as a hike in the summer, bring your tall rubber boots as the area is very wet and very boggy.
In summary, nordic skiing on trails is fun, but so is noridc skiing near playgrounds. Keep it short, lower your expectations and be prepared enjoy yourself.
On a side note these trails are maintained by a small group of volunteers of the Pembina Nordic Ski Club and although they can be accessed easy enough, an annual membership is cheaper than a night on the town and would go a long way in helping with the costs of maintaining and enhancing the trail system.
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