Moves to improve ski area picking up steam

• Kachemak Nordic Ski Club establishes new parking area, timing shack

by Aaron Selbig
Homer Tribune

Although no snow has yet fallen on the 10-kilometer network of Nordic ski trails at the Lookout Mountain Ski Area and the facility is still at least a month from its first race, plenty of activity has kept the place bustling lately.
Construction workers and equipment – contracted by the nonprofit Kachemak Nordic Ski Club and operated by Eric Shafford’s company, Property Improvements – have been working at the site to build a new parking lot near its Ohlson Mountain Road entrance. The new lot, big enough for cars as well as buses, will be a welcome addition to those accustomed to crowding their vehicles up and down Ohlson Mountain Road during races.
“We’re excited about it,” said KNSC president Allan Phelps. “We’re making progress and we feel like we’re going to have a really nice facility that’s going to be used by kids, young adults and senior masters here in town.”
The parking lot is graded and includes pipes for drainage. It’s in a pretty muddy state right now, said Phelps, but once it freezes up, it will be suitable for plowing and parking.
It was important to get the work done before this year’s ski season so that the Lookout Mountain Ski Area – or “the hayfields,” as it’s commonly called – would be ready to host the Besh Cup racing series Jan. 23 and 24, said Phelps. The Besh Cup, a six-race series used to select the teams that will go to the Junior Olympics and the Arctic Winter Games, will attract hundreds of participants to two races each in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Homer.
KNSC volunteers have also put up safety fencing in preparation for the season and have placed a timing shack at Schwiesow Stadium. Next year, they hope to improve access to the new parking lot from Ohlson Mountain Road and make the area available for year-round use.

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Posted by Newsroom on Nov 4th, 2009 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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