Events and training A variety of educational programs
are also hosted by the Bitterroot Cross- Country Ski Club including annual free cross-country ski lesson days. Lessons are for beginners through lower-inter- mediates of all ages. The traditional classic style of cross-country skiing is taught. Would-be skiers and beginning skiers of all ages are welcome. Youth Cross-Country Ski Days are scheduled during January and February for local schools. These are ski classes for public school students.
For more information about the Chief Joseph trails visit the club’s website at
http://bitterrootxcskiclub.net.
Repairing the roof on the Gordon Reese Cabin
One person makes all the difference
The Bitterroot Cross-Country Ski Club makes it clear that “One man was pri- marily responsible for the existence of the groomed cross-country ski trails at Chief Joseph Pass. That man was Gordon Reese. “
Gordon came from Alaska where he had enjoyed skiing on groomed trails. He felt that Chief Joseph Pass would be the best location to develop a cross-country ski trail system. But his efforts to persuade the Forest Service to approve trail grooming failed in both 1985 and 1987.
The Gordon Reese Cabin serves as a day-use warming hut for trail users, and is also available for overnight rental.
The Job Corps made new wooden signs for all of the Chief Joseph Ski Trails, and they have been installed, which helps skier navigation greatly. A few new metal signs are placed along Gibbons Pass Road to help con- trol snowmobile traffic on the multiuse trails. The wording of the signs was developed with collaboration between members of the Bitterroot Ridge- Runners Snowmobile Club and the Bitterroot Cross-Country Ski Club. A generous grant from the Rapp Family Foundation is covering the cost of both
the wooden trail signs and the Gibbons Pass Road signs.
The Club was awarded a new
Recreational Trails Program grant of $40,000 to cover the cost for an addi- tional outhouse in the Chief Joseph trailhead parking lot. This will be installed in the summer or fall of 2018. In additions, grants pay for a large portion of the costs of operating groomers, which allows the club to keep memberships inexpensive, and most importantly, provide free outdoor recreation opportunities to the public.
10 WINTER 2017-18
AmericanTrails.org
In 1989, Gordon and others promoted the idea of a new ski club. About 50 people attended the first meeting. Forest Service personnel present at the meeting were impressed with the obvious interest in establishing a ski area. With the Bitterroot Club estab- lished, an agreement was signed and volunteers started laying out trails. The first grooming machine was a hand-me-down snowmobile. And Gordon was the lone groomer during the first season of 1990-1991.
A decade later, club members invest- ed over 5,500 hours in construction of a warming cabin. When it was dedi- cated in 2001, it was fittingly named for Gordon Reese.
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