The Tay Valley Cross Country Ski Club Kilometre Count Distance Challenge is officially closed for 2022!
However, it’s not too late to enter your ski information. If you kept track of your outings and know how many kilometres you skied, enter the information on our Google Form. We will accept entries until Friday, March 25th.
The new club toques have arrived get yours here through our Zone4 Registration site. They cost $28. Get one before they disappear!
PICK-UP LOCATION: Currently, the only pick-up location is Heritage Bikes, 16 Conlon Dr, Perth, from 10am to 5pm from Tuesday to Friday. Bring your receipt.
Check our Facebook page for the most up-to-date grooming reports. With this changeable weather — pouring rain one day, mounds of snow the next — the trail conditions will vary greatly.
Before heading out, refer to our Facebook page. Our groomers post their last grooming times and report on general conditions. You can also check our Trails page for more information.
Happy skiing!!
When: Saturday, February 12 6:30pm – 9pm
Where to start: Winter Parking Lot
Come and enjoy the beautiful trails at Murphys Point under an almost
full moon. Meet some club executive members and fellow skiers and
revel in the beauty of midwinter.
Arrive at the main (winter) parking lot any time between 6:30 and 8 pm with a
friend or small group of skiers (remember to display your TVCCSC
membership card). Meet some of the executive and other club
members in the parking lot and then feel free to explore the main trails
in the park with your group. We suggest no one skis alone, so singles
should join another skier or small group. It is expected that all skiers
will observe safe COVID practices (distancing and masks…if distancing is
not possible).
Dress for the weather and bring a headlamp and phone. Temperatures will be
dropping as the evening progresses, so a few extra layers and perhaps a
warm drink in a knapsack would be a good idea as well.
We ask that all skiers return to the main winter parking lot and
depart the park by 9 pm, at the latest.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact club vice president Phill
Brackenbury ( pcbrackenbury@gmail.com ) or club secretary Brad Mills
( millham@sympatio.ca ).
This may be the last opportunity for a weekend moonlight ski this
year, so hopefully we will see many of you!
The Loppet may be cancelled but the Kilometre Count Distance Challenge is back!
Track your mileage on our Distance Challenge page by clicking on the link and filling in the information on our club Google Form. Once a week (or so), we will update the table on the page showing who has skied, where, and how far. This is open to club members only. Click on the Membership tab to register to join the TVCCSC.
Unfortunately, due to the current Omicron driven COVID wave and the resulting restrictions, our annual Loppet has been cancelled for the second year running. A year ago, we certainly didn’t think we would be in this situation again, but here we are.
We are optimistic about our chances of holding our classic loppet next year. Keep us in your calendar…early February 2023.
Stay healthy!!
The 2022 Tay Valley Loppet is set for Sunday February 6th at Murphys Point Provincial Park, with a reserve date of February 13th, if snow conditions are not adequate.
The format will be a 2.5 or 5 km freestyle “cookie race” at 10:00 am, followed by a classic 10 km or 20 km classic race at 11:00 am.
All ages and abilities are welcome. Short award ceremonies will follow each event. Full results will be posted through a link on this Website. Kilted skiers will receive special awards.
Please be aware that due to COVID restrictions, all skiers 12 years or older must be fully vaccinated, as per Cross Country Ontario requirements. Children who recently became eligible for vaccinations (5-11) are exempt from this requirement.
Registration forms will be available on the Loppet page of this Website soon.
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 large branches across the trails, please take a minute to move them to the side so that when snow does come the groomers will have an easier time of it.
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 very
successful. Ten yards of mulch was spread on the rough portions of the Loon
Lake Trail and a snow fence was erected along the same section. The proposed re-routing of the entrance to the Round Lake Loop across from the winter parking lot was brushed out. Volunteers walked the trails, removed dead fall, and cut back brush through our network of trails.
Grooming team: Four groomers are returning and a fifth has volunteered to join the team. Training will be held in early December.
Climate Change: As lovers of nature and winter, our members are concerned about the impacts of climate change on our sport but also the effect of our activities on the climate. The club’s biggest contributor to climate change is trail grooming. The executive has passed a motion to establish a Green Fund focusing on the purchase of carbon offsets through tree planting and the future purchase of EV grooming equipment. Donations to the fund will be made through the membership page and through requests on this Website as well as our Facebook page. In September, the Club executive authorized a payment of $300 to the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation for tree planting.
Tay Valley Cross Country Ski Club 