Manitoba skiers can inform other skiers about trail conditions by

• e-mailing a report to Kevin Miller.
• e-mailing a report to the CCSAM E-Mail Information Exchange List.

The Cross Country Ski Association of Manitoba does not have responsibility for the accuracy of any trail condition reports listed here. We provide this information for the benefit of cross country skiers. Please exercise caution when skiing in very cold weather and/or steep terrain.

Check out our Where to ski pages to learn more about the different venues listed below.

Ski club/venue trail condition reports (posted by the people who groom the trails)

Skier's trail condition reports (posted by the people who ski the trails)

Burwalde Woods

• by Xxxx Yyyy  (posted on Dec 99)
  Zzz. 

(On January 18th and 19th, I received two Skier's trail condition reports from Birds Hill Park that detailed damage to trails. One was an eye-witness account.)

It appears that on Monday January 18th in the afternoon, three yahoos on snowmobiles damaged a number of kilometres of Birds Hill Park's classic ski trails. It appears they started from the riding stables, drove along either the outbound or in-bound Esker to where it meets Chickadee, drove to where Chicadee shortcuts to Bluestem, then drove west then south then east along Bluestem back to the riding stables.

I phoned the Birds Hill Park office at 222-9151. The phone answerer (Edna) was not aware of this. I explained everything to her, then she forwarded me to the Park Warden's voice mail where I left a brief message and my contact info. He phoned me and we had a good talk. Four things:

• For years park staff have been dealing with problems like this. They've set large rocks at some access points, but it's impossible to stop snowmobiles from going anywhere they want to go.
• It's not easy, but if you can get the snowmobile's license plate and a description of the machine and rider, the park will follow up on it.
• Park staff will try to repair the damage on Wednesday morning, but there isn't very much snow to work with.
• The only way snowmobiles will ever be banned from Birds Hill Park is if skiers get together (through CCSAM) and lobby the Minister of Conservation . You can contact me.

Reporting damage to Provincial Parks trails

If you see any inappropriate activities in a Provincial Park (such as ATVs or snowmobiles wrecking trails), you should report the activity to the park.

• Grand Beach District Supervisor Jeff Houghton is at (204)754-5040 or jeff.houghton@gov.mb.ca.
• Birds Hill Park is 222-9151. The Birds Hill District Office is (204)654-6730 (weekdays).
• Turtle Mountain  District Park Supervisor Shawn Lamb is at (204)534-2045 or Shawn.Lamb@gov.mb.ca.

The more complaints they receive, the more likely they will be given the resources to enforce regulations.
The Minister of Conservation should also be informed so he is aware of the problem (mincon@leg.gov.mb.ca).

As for grooming, the parks like to receive compliments (as we all do) and that probably motivates them to a higher service level. Also, as taxpayers and skiers, you certainly have the right to contact them with complaints (or better, constructive criticisms).

Grand Beach trails discussion

On Monday December 8, 2008, I (Kevin Miller) had a detailed conversation with Grand Beach District Supervisor Jeff Houghton and the park's Operations Manager (James Lockie) about the Grand Beach cross country ski trails.

A trail report about a 4x4 truck having driven along the trails:

• The tire tracks were made by the park's truck delivering fire wood to the warm-up shelters.
• I asked why a snowmobile pulling a trailer wasn't used. The answer was that a snowmobile doesn't have the capacity to transport the required volume of wood to all of the warm-up shelters.
• I asked why the shelters couldn't be stocked in late October. The answer is that the wood would be stolen by people in pick-up trucks.

Jeff explained the operation of the Grand Beach cross country ski trails from the park's perspective:

• Until the trails have been groomed, they are closed. If www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/parks/winter_reports/cross_country_skiing_report.html says "trails closed", then skiers shouldn't be using them.
• The park's grooming operator has been doing that job since the mid 1960s, and he takes great pride in providing the best possible ski trails. If the trails are groomed before there is sufficient snow, sand and gravel is churned up. In addition to obviously degrading the snow conditions, the sand and gravel also acts as a melting agent on mild sunny days.
• Unauthorized motor vehicles using the Grand Beach trails are a problem all year round. It's a problem everywhere, and it's something parks take seriously, but enforcement is very difficult. Provincial laws allow park staff to confiscate and impound any motorized vehicles on trails that prohibit them, but whenever parks post "motorized vehicles prohibited" signs, they are quickly torn down by the perpetrators.

And so, we're probably going to have to accept these realities.

  This page was last updated on March 26, 2010