Valley skiers open new Nordic trails

HATCHER PASS — All Nordic skiers of the Valley came together Friday morning to celebrate the creation of 6.5 kilometers of groomed trails at the Government Peak Recreational Area off of Edgerton Parks Road.

After years of planning, many hours of volunteer work and a partnership between the Mat-Su Borough and Mat-Su Ski Club, the visions of skiing in the valley finally became reality this winter.

“It is a great day to be a skier,” said Ed Strabel, Mat-Su Ski Club president. “This has been a long time coming since the (effort) started in 1988 and it is finally getting going.”

The Mat-Su Ski Club is a nonprofit organization composed entirely of volunteers who have dedicated their time to making the Valley a better place for everyone to enjoy. By partnering with the Mat-Su Borough, the dreams of Valley skiers have been realized through community development funding. No more traveling deep into Hatcher Pass, as the new trails at Government Peak Recreational Center have a nice and easy road built earlier this year and a fair-sized parking lot. Most importantly, the area has a beautiful view overlooking the Valley and Matanuska Peak.

With this first step of trails being created, the future for Valley skiing looks promising, Srabel said. He explained during Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony that the improvement does not stop here. With the help from the borough and advocates like assemblyman Jim Colver, the Government Peak Recreational Area’s next project is to bring power for lighting to the parking lot and create a warm community center and transit facility. In addition, the idea is to create more trails in the area for competitive ski races to be held.

Many high school skiers put their time into volunteering and helping clear the trails. It is their future wish to one day expand Nordic skiing at Hatcher Pas with more challenging trails where region and state races can be held for the first time in the Valley.

Colony High School senior Brandon Schafer explained that the trails are “a good start for any level or age. I will spend a lot of my time here. and as more trails are built it will only get better.”

After the ribbon was cut by ski club board members, the new recreational area kicked off with a public solstice relay race. Admission was free. Each team was comprised of three members who would all race three laps of the designated trail for a distance of 1.2 kilometers. A total of 25 teams signed in and were a part of the first race for these new trails. Multiple high school students who contributed to this project represented their teams, but a majority of the participants were Valley Nordic skiers who came to appreciate this new addition to local skiing.

Solstice Sprint Relay

Friday, overnment Peak Nordic Trails

10.8-KM Relay

1. 29:17, Ghosts of Palmer’s Past (Darin Markwardt, Wylie Mangelsdorf, Davis Dunlap)

2. 30:26, Young Gun and Old coaches (Leif Johnson, Ed O’Connor, Dave Knopp)

3. 31:33, Hatchers Passholes (Leo Jaschek, Darien Simett, Brenden Scharfer)

4. 32:46, Three Blind Mice (Paul Butera, Ana Jager, Lydia Blanchet)

5. 34:16, Whoville (Jesse Dahms, Andrew Liebing, Kaden Holladay)

6. 34:47, Sissors-Rock-Paper (Bill Spencer, Bob Butera, David Spencer)

7. 35:10, Three Guys (Garrett Birch, Andrew Nelson, Dakota Thompson)

8. 35:45, Three Mooses (James Lynn, Daniel Dahms, Zach Marsh)

9. 36:26, Speedy Blue (Sara Falconer, Megan Lasselle, Julia Ebner)

10. 36:44, C.O.G. (Cranky old guys) (Dave Blanchet, Brenden Lu, Jim Jarger)

11. 36:52, Team Fireball (Ted Hoople, Fabian Bean, Daniel Van Hamissen)

12. 37:23, Team Nordica (Tracie Haan, Tatijance Spaic, Greta Jenkins)

13. 37:30, Team Skvorc (Caitlin Skvorc, Erin Vincent, Sue Skvorc)

14. 37:39, Black Hats (Derek Wallace, Stefan Johnson, Dylan Gumminger)

15. 38:31, The Masters (Daryl Farren, Dave Musgrave, Tom Smayda)

16. 39:09, Death By Chocolate (David Bell, Eva Bingham, Tobin Swortz)

17. 40:17, Young Guns (Mike Wieliczkiewicz, Ian Pougher, Nick Harrison)

18. 42:36, Blow, Flow and Snow (Lorene Lynn, Jill Valarious, Tracie Houser)

19. 46:35, AK Blur (Lyon Kopsack, Judi Kopsack, Jocelyn Kopsack)

20. 49:31, Stigar Family (Sterling Stigar, Stacie Stigar, Mark Stigar)

21. 58:06, Frost Bite (Amanda Ishmael, Rebekan Youngblood, Morgen Lundar)

22. 60:47, Team 3 Star (Tommy Rainey, Chris Tomsen, Colleen Fisk)