Author Archives: tayvalleyskiclub

If you are hiking the trails at Murphys and find a downed tree across the trail that needs a chainsaw to deal with it, please let our Trail Boss (Phill Brackenbury) know. You can email him at pcbrackenbury at gmail.com. Last night’s wind surely left debris on all the trails. If you come across largeContinue reading “Hiking at Murphys?”

Our club grooming team spent some time recently getting our grooming equipment ready for the season. Mother Nature delivered some snow this morning but it doesn’t look like it will stick around long enough to help our ski trails. Fingers crossed for some good snow that sticks around!!

Here are a few updates from our club’s recent executive meeting: Trails: A big THANK YOU to all the club volunteers who came out on a rainy Saturday morning. Trailboss Phill reports that the cleanup day on November 13 was verysuccessful. Ten yards of mulch was spread on the rough portions of the LoonLake TrailContinue reading “Club updates”

Here are a few highlights from the AGM: This marks the 39th year in partnership with Murphys Point Provincial Park! Drew and Phill are returning as President and Vice for one more 2-year term with no extensions. They were acclaimed. Last year was a banner year for memberships with 310. The Park expects another busyContinue reading “AGM Summary”

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the AGM on Monday, November 8th at 7 p.m. The meeting is virtual. If you are a current member or a past member from last year, you will receive an invitation to join. Next on your calendar is the Trail Clean-up which was rescheduled to Saturday, November 13thContinue reading “AGM & Trail Clean-up”

The club executive met recently for the first time this season to tie up some loose ends from last season and to prepare for the next. Here are a few things of note for all club members: Trail maintenance: Saturday October 16th is trail clean-up day. Past members will receive an invitation to join theContinue reading “Club exec prepares for season”

Nancy Gaudreau did it! She climbed to the top of the leader board by skiing at least 16km every day over the last week of the season and broke the 600km mark. CONGRATULATIONS Nancy! Nancy’s Vermont home had similar snow conditions to ours, although she was able to get out earlier than we could. SnowContinue reading “Skier tops 600kms!”

Robert Mears is getting close to the 600km mark for total distance skied this season! Can he squeeze in a few more kilometres before the heat and rain wash away his chances? Only time will tell. Jim Reain is the second place male but he is almost 300kms behind Robert. Nancy Gaudreau is 40 klicksContinue reading “Top Skier Nears 600km”

Don’t forget to ski the Virtual Loppet this year. You can do it anytime. And…you can ski several times to improve on your time! The course start/finish line is marked as are kilometre markers. The distances have changed slightly due to grooming patterns. Enter your time and other information on the Google form. Visit thisContinue reading “Virtual Loppet Reminder”

The Big Rideau Lake, that is. Just off the shore of the town of Portland, you will find a world class outdoor skating oval. This 1 kilometre long oval is cleared of snow and maintained with a Zamboni every year in preparation for an outdoor speed skating competition. The International Big Rideau Lake Speed SkatingContinue reading “Skate the Lake”