Mat-Su Ski Club says thanks

To the editor:

The Mat-Su Ski Club would like to thank the many organizations and businesses that have supported Nordic skiing in the Mat-Su Valley over the past years. We are looking forward to a great ski season with the opening of the new Government Peak Recreation Area.

Specifically we would like to thank the Frontiersman for publicizing our events and covering the high school ski program; Mat-Su Health Foundation for several grants for grooming equipment; Junior Nordic Ski equipment; ski pulks and board training; Matanuska Telephone Association for the truck and ski club hot line; Diversified Tire for the great deal on studded tires and rims for our new truck; The Jessica Stevens Foundation for its matching grant for ski grooming equipment; and the Rasmuson Foundation for its grant for ski trail grooming equipment.

We would also like to thank the Colony, Palmer and Wasilla High School cross-country running and ski teams for their work on trail construction and maintenance; the Mat-Su Borough Community Development and Public Works Department for its dedication and commitment to development of the recreational trails at the base of Government Peak; the Mat-Su Borough for annual trail grooming grants; Buffalo Mine/Soapstone Community Council for grooming equipment and trail maintenance grants; and the Kiwanis Club of Palmer and the Mat-Su Sea Hawkers for high school skier equipment scholarships.

Many thanks to Backcountry Bike and Ski Shop in Palmer for hosting ski waxing clinics and door prizes for our annual meetings. Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking, REI and Skinny Raven also provided door prizes for our annual meetings, and thanks as well to Alaska Airlines for the laptop computer to maintain the ski club database. Hatcher Pass Lodge has been wonderful in allowing the Mat-Su Ski Club store its grooming equipment at the lodge for grooming trails at Independence Mine.

Finally, we would like to thank the countless club members and community volunteers who donated thousands of dollars and worked thousands of hours over the past 10 years clearing, building and maintaining the Nordic ski trails though out the valley and making the vision a reality, with the knowledge that “if we build it, they will come.”

Think snow!

Mat-Su Ski Club

Board of Directors