Meet You There
ST. ALBERT NORDIC SKI CLUB Home to local skiers since 1973
THE ST. ALBERT Nordic Ski Club
formed 44 years ago in 1973, when a group of St. Albert families banded together to turn our city’s winter trail system into a paradise for cross-country skiers. Though it started off with just a few families, the club has grown tremendously over the years and now offers services to hundreds of skiers throughout the city. But this public 28 T8Nmagazine.com
interest in the club didn’t come out of nowhere. According to two of the current club executives, Laurie Hunt and Ken Chin, all of the club’s popularity and success is owed to the hard work of their volunteer team. All aspects of the club—from coaching to trail maintenance—are run by volunteers hoping to make wintertime in St. Albert a bit more accessible and exciting. For the most part, the accessibility comes in the form of skiing
lessons. Every January, parent coaches and youth instructors begin to offer ski lessons for kids on a weekly basis. These lessons are affectionately called “The Jackrabbit Program,” and according to Laurie, this is one of the most popular aspects of the club, attracting more than 100 kids from around the city every year. Through the help of city funding and government grants, the Nordic Ski Club has been able to expand its programming to a wider audience. “About 10 years ago, the Nordic Ski Club was able to acquire a
