Whitehorse ski groups look ahead to 'super season' this year

More Yukoners seem to be interested in skiing and snowboarding this year and it's not just because of the 40 cm to 60 cm of snow that fell Monday.

"I think it's because of the COVID-19 situation," saidBenjamin Poudou,skiclub manager with theWhitehorse Cross Country Ski Club.

This year the club has sold 1,700 memberships.

At this time last year, they'd sold 1,067.

Poudou says cross-country skiing may be proving attractive because it's COVID19-friendly. It will allow people to remain physically distant and the outdoor trails don't have the same restrictions seenfor indoor clubs and sports.

"After last spring, nobody knows what is going to happen," Poudousaid. "LastApril, everything was shut down but we were still skiing and grooming, andso I think people saw that."

A big snowfall gets things started early

Of course the snow helps.

Monday's snowfall may have led to jokes about 'snowpocalypse' and delayed travel but it's been favourablefor ski trails and also downhill ski and snowboard runs.

Poudou said the cross-country ski club is already grooming trails with heavier machinery, which is early compared to past years.

The snow is also being welcomed at Mount Simawhere crews are working around the clock to prepare for a scheduledopeningon Dec. 4.

"We are hard at work capturing all this snow,"said Sam Oettli, the general manager of Mount Sima ski hill. "If the wind starts blowing, it's just going to go on another mountain so we're packing it down as quickly as we can."

While one downfall isn't enough to open Mount Sima, it does createa solid base. Once packed by the treads of the grooming machine, this week's powder creates about 4 cm of snow.

Oettli said Sima is still using snow cannonsto create jumps,banked turns and building a "base," for skiing.

The work was delayed a bit this year because Sima hasn't been able to welcome pre-season training from Canadian and international athletes,a source of revenue in years past.

Like the cross-country ski club, Mount Sima will be restricting and reducing access to its lodge. The hill is working to install a heated outdoor tent to allow people to warm up while facilitating COVID-19 safety by remaining outdoors

Oettli said season pass sales at Mount Sima are above-average this year.

"It's going to be an awesome year. If this keeps up we're going to have a super season," he said.