Glacier Nordic looks to improve Haskill Basin ski trail system

Accessing the Nordic ski trail system on Big Mountain into Haskill Basin can be a bit of a challenge, but the Glacier Nordic Club is looking to change that and expand ski opportunities in the area northeast of Whitefish.

The course that runs near Whitefish Mountain Resort begins with a steep incline and the trailhead is often difficult for newcomers to locate, according to Glacier Nordic Club executive director Cameron Blake.

About five years ago Glacier Nordic started grooming the trail network on Winter Sports Inc. property and F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co. property that last season included 12 kilometers of trail. Blake said the resort previously groomed the trail and as parking has expanded that shifted the only access to the trail from the Willow parking lot at the base area.

“It starts straight down — for the first 10 minutes it’s downhill and people have complained about getting cold,” she said. “It’s also very challenging to climb back out.”

Glacier Nordic is looking to change the access as well as add to and improve the Nordic trails in the area. The nonprofit group, which runs the cross-country ski course at Whitefish Lake Golf Club and sponsors youth skiing, has partnered with Whitefish Legacy Partners to improve the ski trail access at Big Mountain.

Whitefish Legacy Partners has begun work on its Haskill Basin section of the Whitefish Trail that will connect from the lower trailhead off Reservoir Road to trails and a planned trailhead on Big Mountain Road near Lookout Ridge.

Glacier Nordic is working with Legacy Partners to develop the new upper trailhead off Big Mountain Road and about a half-mile of trail access that will connect to the existing Nordic network. This project is planned to be completed in late fall with the new trail connecting into the last switchback on the existing Cedar trail before it crosses Haskill Creek.

Glacier Nordic is contributing $50,000 to the project or about half the cost of the upper trailhead and the connecting section of trail.

Blake said this is the biggest investment so far for Glacier Nordic, but the group believes it’s well worth it to improve access.

“Partnering with Legacy Partners will create permanent access to the Nordic network,” Blake said. “The new easement will connect into the existing trail with less elevation loss at the get go, and gain at the end. It’s intimidating right now and we want to open it up and make it more accessible.”

A new easement between the city of Whitefish and Winter Sports Inc., along with Whitefish Legacy Partners, allowed for the creation of the new trail and trailhead.

Easier access will not only help provide additional use of the trail network for skiers, but also for the younger skiers in Glacier Nordic’s youth program, which includes about 230 children, according to the club.

The trailhead will include parking for 30 to 40 cars, bathrooms and storage for the club’s grooming equipment.

To accomplish this, Glacier Nordic is fundraising through the Whitefish Community Foundation’s Great Fish Challenge. The group raised about $38,000 through last year’s Great Fish and its operation at the golf course, but is still working to raise the final $12,000.

In addition, Glacier Nordic expects to form an agreement with the city of Whitefish, which holds the easements on the Whitefish Trail, and Legacy Partners to groom the trail and share in the operations costs of the trailhead during the winter.

Besides creating the trailhead and a new access trail, Glacier Nordic began last year working to improve and add signs along the current trail it grooms and on the connecting trails that are groomed on Stoltze property by the Iron Horse subdivision.

On a separate, but related project, Glacier Nordic is working with Stoltze and the state to create a groomed trail that would begin at the existing Stoltze parking lot on Haskill Basin Road, pass through state land and then return to Stoltze property to connect to the existing upper cross-country ski network.

Glacier Nordic has applied with the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to create the groomed trail on 520 acres of state land in Haskill Basin. If approved, the section of trail through state land would be about 1.5 miles in length.

As Glacier Nordic looks to expand the trails and grooming, the entire trail system northeast of Whitefish could total more than 25 kilometers, Blake notes.

The group hopes to have the entire trail network in place by this winter.

“That would be exciting,” Blake said. “The key is to get public access.”

In addition to raising funds for the trail and trailhead off Big Mountain Road, Glacier Nordic is using the Great Fish Challenge to fundraise for the purchase of a new snowmobile and Ginzu groomer for next season. It’s looking to raise $18,000 for the equipment. This will allow two groomers to operate on big snow days and provide back up equipment, according to Blake.

While Glacier Nordic remains committed to grooming for convenient access at the golf club, providing access to trails at a higher elevation is key, Blake notes, to providing skiing earlier and later in the season.

“It’s an incredible area for skiing,” Blake says of the ski network in Haskill Basin. “It has a great wilderness feel and great views.”

For more information, visit www.glaciernordicclub.com.