Thanks for a great season of Nordic skiing at Mount Washington

 by Keith and Heather Nicol

 It was a sad day when we cleaned out our ski locker at Raven Lodge on Saturday April 2 to end the 2022 cross country ski season. Raven Lodge is the base of operations of cross country skiing and snow shoeing at Mount Washington near Courtenay, B.C on Vancouver Island. The year saw a mix of weather with lots of snow and very cold weather early in the winter followed by a very dry February and then abit more mixed weather in March. This resulted in a lower than normal snow pack but still very good xc skiing.  It was a strange year with Covid 19 continuing to lurk in the background but you couldn`t get a better outdoor activity that was also easy to socially distance with than cross country skiing. We managed over 50 days of skiing which is the most we have skied at Mount Washington since we arrived 7 years ago.

 I was involved in teaching cross country skiing there seemed to be lots of new skiers from all over Vancouver Island in lessons this year.  We also ran a CANSI Level 1 ski instructors course and Mount Washington now has another new nordic ski instructor. If becoming a nordic ski instructor is of interest to you contact me at k2nicol@gmail.com since we are planning another course for the 2022-23 season. New for this year was Nordic Fest which offered a wide range of activities and we had a good turnout for the advanced skate session held on Sunday, March 27.     

 

So next year if you have thought about trying cross country skiing or snowshoeing then check out Raven Lodge at Mount Washington. They have over 50 km of trail groomed for skating and classic skiing as well as many snowshoe trails. Raven Lodge has great mountain views and inside you can check out the ski shop, book rentals and lessons, and buy day tickets.  Lets hope next winter brings the same great skiing to Mount Washington but without the Covid 19.   For more information see: https://www.mountwashington.ca/