Inaugural Pine Street Woods Race a big success

By Reader Staff

The Sandpoint Nordic Club Youth Ski League kicked off the inaugural Pine Street Woods Race on Feb. 15 with an impressive field of young participants.

“We were excited to bring the annual race from Schweitzer — we are so thankful for their support the last six years — to PSW this year,” stated SNC President ReNee Nigon.

In the fall of 2019, Kaniksu Land Trust opened the 180-acre Pine Street Woods to the public. The community raised $2.1 million to purchase the original 160-acre parcel from the Weisz Family, and an additional 20 acres were donated to KLT by L.E. Krause. Trails are maintained by Sandpoint Nordic Club and Pend Oreille Pedalers.

The Outdoor Recreation Center at Pine Street Woods is managed by SNC, which offers ski and snowshoe rentals, classes, events, and other information on winter fun and etiquette. SNC grooms the wide trails in the winter and POP maintains the narrow trails and the Syringa Trail System.

In its first race at PSW, the youth competed in

1K or 3K races. The Youth Ski League is split into four teams: Little Steppers, Recreation Classic, Skate, Development and Race ski teams.

Participants numbered more than 80 this season, ranging in age from 6 to 18. On a bluebird day, they embarked on a race competition on the Meadow, Homestead and Outhouse Nordic trails. The skiers blew through the courses while family, friends, community members and other racers cheered each other on. Olympian Rebecca Dussault served as emcee for the awards ceremony.

The race was the culminating event after seven weeks of training for skiers to test their skills. This season, skiers are able to ski the trails at PSW for the full eight weeks of the program.

“This event could not happen without the hard work of all the coaches, trail groomers and family volunteers,” SNC stated in a news release. “The group is excited with the possible addition of the Sled Hill for a real big hill climb for next year’s race — stay tuned.”

For more information on next winter’s Youth Ski League, including how to join and access scholarships to participate, contact sandpointnordic@gmail.com.

Top right: The Sandpoint High School Bulldogs return to Sandpoint victorious after winning the state title for state 4A girls basketball championships in Nampa. The Bulldogs had played in title games four times in history, each time finishing runner-up. This win marks the first state 4A title for a team from North Idaho since 2003, and the first state basketball title for any Sandpoint boys or girls team. Photo by Jim Howes.

Bottom left: Photographer Donna Musacchia said she watched this showdown between Lola the dog and a snarky cat on the fence for 15 minutes. “Lola was going crazy, happily wagging her tail, but still a lot of fuss!” Musacchia wrote. “The cat, content with a situation, barely gave her the time of day except for a few sideways glances, then putting her nose in the air and looking the other way. We could learn a lot from cats, couldn’t we?”

Bottom right: “After a great day of powder skiing at my favorite central Idaho spot and on my way to the lodge for an apres ski beverage, something caught my eye in the trash can near the ticket window. Nestled in amongst the ticket debris was the current issue of the Sandpoint Reader! Lucky me! Best of all, the crossword puzzle was left untouched!” Photo courtesy Chris Park.