Cross-country ski club optimistic about future

Though widely perceived as a contemporary sport, cross-country skiing originated as human ingenuity to endure winter treks in Scandinavian countries as well as being used by several indigenous cultures in North America.

People of the Norse tracked and hunted elk, deer and other animals on skis. The birth of cross-country skiing in the United States, ironically enough, is credited to a Norwegian immigrant known as Snowshoe Thompson who introduced the tradition in California.

Skiing is nothing new to Montanans either – with much of the state under snow for months at a time and alpine peaks and slopes aplenty.

In 1978, the Kootenai Cross-Country Ski Club was founded, bringing organization to the popular pastime. The nonprofit, all-volunteer club has always placed an emphasis on teaching children and making cross-country skiing a lifelong activity.

When Susie Rice and her husband, Greg, moved to Libby in 1977, they had found what they were looking for – beauty with four seasons.

“Skiing has always been a passion,” Susie Rice said. “Always a family affair.”

Susie said they currently have 16 students from the Asa Wood Elementary after-school program learning to cross-country ski around the playground.

Involved since the inception of the club, the Rice’s donate generously to the cross-country ski trails in the Flower Creek drainage. Greg does much of the grooming and the two continue to organize family-oriented events including Saturday night skiing on a half-mile trail known as “Shorty’s Loop.”

The trail is lit with propane torches and a fire breathes warmth into the winter nights at the picnic shelter built by the U.S. Forest Service.

Susie Rice said the trails run through federal, state and City of Libby lands so getting the trails to come to fruition was a “multi-year project.”

“The club has had an ebb and flow over the years,” Susie said.

At one time the Kootenai club was one of the largest in the nation and had a junior race program that sent many youths to national competitions.

With the help of a recent grant from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, skiing will be “primo” according to Susie. There are currently 12 miles of trail that are groomed 14 feet wide.

Part of the grant was used for the purchase of new grooming equipment the club will take possession of next February and a snowmobile that the club will have early in the new year.

Before receiving the grant, the club has been using the same track-setting equipment since 1979. 

With the remaining grant money, the club is optimistic it will be combined with a request to the Resource Advisory Committee with the “hope of applying the funds to a permanent shelter on the ski course,” Susie said.

To Get There

To locate the cross-country trails:

• Head up the golf course hill and bear left. Granite Lake Road will connect on the right.

• Follow Granite Lake Road for one mile and find signs for Flower Creek.

• Follow for a little over one mile to the trailhead.

The road is plowed periodically and a gate on Granite Lake Road is locked at 6 p.m. daily except Saturdays.

There is no use fee for the trail system, though donations are accepted. Tax-deductible donations can be made to the KCCSC at 1020 Idaho St., Libby, MT 59923.

The club will host a meeting on Monday, Jan. 5 at the First National Bank community room at 7 p.m. to discuss upcoming events and volunteer activities.