A year in review: Mount Sopris Nordic Council
Council makes largest single investment in its 38-year history
Mount Sopris Nordic Council/Courtesy photo
It was a big year for the Mount Sopris Nordic Council, as the group received $250,000 from Pitkin County Open Space and Trails (OST) and made the largest single investment in its 38-year history.
“They have gone through a pretty major transformation,” OST Director Gary Tennenbaum said during a Tuesday joint meeting between OST and the Pitkin County Board of Commissioners.
“And for Pitkin County Open Space, we’ve always been a sponsor of the Nordic operations out there at a relatively low level, and last year, we stepped up pretty large on their capital campaign,” Tennenbaum added, referencing the $250,000 donation.
In the past, OST has given MSNC $10,000 annually to make a positive impact on the long-term sustainability of the ski trails, as well as improve the overall health of the organization. OST increased this number to $25,000, however, so that MSNC can invest in operations and staffing to professionalize grooming at Spring Gulch.
During Tuesday’s meeting, MSNC staff gave a presentation on how this money was spent over the past year in effort to preserve this “free, unique winter resource in the lower valley,” said MSNC Executive Director Rachel Bachman Perkins.
MSNC’s capital improvement plan includes two specific focus areas: enhancing the climate resilience of the ski area and improving the council’s operations to provide better day-to-day experiences for local skiers.
Initiatives for climate resilience were geared toward ensuring access in low snow years, enhancing the snow retention of the trails, and modifying them in a way that made them easier to groom with less snow.
Another effort includes forest restoration work to rejuvenate oak and aspen trees that provide shade and wind protection throughout the trail system.
“It also adds to the aesthetic value and wild character of Spring Gulch and supports the wildlife habitat and forest value for cattle in the summertime,” Perkins said.
Staff also began building nearly 4.5 miles of new trails in 2022 and finished the project in 2023.
The first major improvement since the trail additions was the installation of a parking lot at the middle elevation of the system, which is intended to provide direct access to trails. The parking lot was installed in the fall of 2023, and this past spring, MSNC placed 225 tons of road basin gravel to improve the durability and resilience of the lot due to settling that occurred during the first winter of use.
An improved drainage swale was also installed at the south end of the parking lot due to the initial installation being insufficient to tackle mud and ice build up. Fencing to enclose the lot will also be installed at a later time.
Another major project was forest restoration and vegetation management efforts. Jerome Park is experiencing significant drought impacts. On the upper trails, MSNC focused on removing tree fall hazards, like dead aspen trees, along some of the western and northern boundary trails in the high elevation areas.
“We’re looking to promote new growth and help support some of those midstory trees that will be able to thrive with less water while also improving the safety,” Perkins said. “We had another tree come down in this first storm.”
But it is not over for the trees that were removed. They were chipped and spread across the trail system to improve snow retention drainage and create a better skiing surface throughout the area.
The wood chips insulate the ground, so before the ground is frozen, the chips keep the air colder to maintain the snow on top of it, as well as provide drainage for water to melt out, particularly on southern facing trails.
“We have plenty of snow on the classic tracks and a really great skiing experience,” Perkins said. “By adding that parking lot and constructing these new trails, we can get people to those higher elevations where we have the best conditions faster and earlier and later in the season.”
The most expensive project the organization has ever taken on was the renovation and upgrade of the grooming operations building. The building, constructed in 1996, had a garage door that would not seal to the ground, which provided a haven for rodents and pack rats.
The building needed attention, but the council had also outgrown it since in 2022, OST donated a snowcat to the council, which they named “Cinnamon.”
MSNC invested over $350,000 in Spring Gulch this year, with the largest and most costly investment of 2024 being the renovation and expansion of this building. With construction budgeted at $300,000, plus $50,000 to develop a solar-based power bank, this is the largest single investment the MSNC has made in its 38-year history.
“It gives us, especially thinking about climate change, the ability to farm snow, go through ice and wind drifts, and all these kinds of things that will be more and more pervasive with time,” Perkins said about the snowcat. “We’re so thrilled to have that machine, and so we wanted to make sure that we had the capacity, from a foundational perspective, to support it.”
To be able to house the snowcat indoors, the council expanded the original 1,200 square foot building to include a 900-square-foot fully-insulated garage. The garage doors have also been fully reinforced. Snowmobiles and other equipment are housed in two more garages.
They are also working on revegetation efforts around the building through reseeding and installing electric fencing to protect from wildlife. More wood chips were laid in front of the building to reduce mud and get through the first season as grass begins to regrow.
“We came here a little over a year ago, and Open Space and Trails was our first major ask,” Perkins said. “We were incredibly thrilled that it was approved … That’s really what made our investment in our operations building specifically, but really all of our 2024 capital improvements, possible.”
The Mount Sopris Nordic Council continues to near the end of its capital campaign goal of $750,000. So far, $690,000 has been raised over the past 14-15 months, with the council hoping to reach the goal by March 2025. These funds will contribute to the ongoing improvement plan in the coming years.
Regan Mertz can be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.
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