The Laurentian Ski Hill Snowboarding Club (LSHSC) is asking the public to be mindful of ongoing construction on its hills.
In a release, the club states that numerous areas of its hills are under construction this summer to reduce snowmaking costs and improve skiing conditions.
The hills are normally closed off to the public during the summer months, but the ski club says that people still end up in the area while touring the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority’s Laurentian Escarpment Conservation Area (LECA).
General Manager of the LSHSC, Cam Graham says that joggers or hikers crossing the hill aren’t normally a problem, but the construction changes things.
“Now that we have a lot of heavy equipment, [there’s] a lot of loose fill, a lot of loose rock out there. Right now, we would prefer, just for people’s safety, not to be on those parts of the hill,” Graham explained. “I’ve seen a jogger run by a fully-loaded front-end loader. The operator was not happy.”
The conservation area’s trails running alongside the hill will still be open. Graham wants to stress that people should still enjoy what’s available to them.
“We want people outside. Those trails are amazing trails,” he said. “This is just our little way of saying ‘steer clear’.”
Graham says that the construction is much-needed for the ski club which had to end its season early due to the pandemic.
“[Last year] we knew because of the weather and closing too fast that we didn’t get everything done. We feel we’re going to be ready to go this year,” he finished.
