A St. Albert ski club is helping recovering addicts kick drugs for the great outdoors.
The St. Albert Nordic Ski Club (STANSKI) has teamed up with Poundmaker's Lodge to set ski trails on the centre's property. The centre, located next to River Lot 56 Natural Area, is a well-known drug addictions treatment centre that focuses on aboriginals.
Poundmaker's had bought new ski equipment for its clients, says Hugh Rutherford, trail director for STANSKI, and asked the group to come set tracks for them. The club was happy to oblige — members have often used the centre's parking lot for past loppets, and once set trails through the area as part of the 1994 Alberta Winter Games.
The club set about two kilometres of trail around the lodge in late January, Rutherford says. "I was out there the other day touching up the track, and I saw that people are already out on the trail."
The centre uses sports, outdoor camps and aboriginal ceremonies to help clients find alternatives to drugs and alcohol, says executive director Marty Landrie. "Part of addictions treatment is challenging yourself," he says, and one way to do that is through sports.
Cross-country skiing is an easy, cheap sport that's great for personal therapy, Rutherford says. "You can make ski trails anywhere," he adds, so patients at Poundmaker's can keep skiing when they leave. "The outdoors is your venue."
The trails are on private property, Landrie says, so they are theoretically not open to the public. "We hope the public would respect the privacy of our clients."
The trails might become public pending future talks, Rutherford says. Even if they don't, they're still an excellent addition to the city's trail system. "Everybody wins."
Family Day loppet
STANSKI is also preparing an Olympic-themed event for its upcoming Family Day loppet.
The annual amateur race kicks off at noon this Feb. 15 at Kingswood Park, Rutherford says, and is open to skiers of all ages. "It can be a taste for the Birkebeiner," he adds, referring to annual the 50-kilometre race in the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area that's also held in February.
About 300 skiers are expected to race anywhere from 400 to 5,000 metres during the event, Rutherford says. Mayor Nolan Crouse is scheduled to start the race. The race normally runs through River Lot 56, but won't this year due to an ongoing dispute with the group. The club hopes to run part of the race down the Sturgeon River, he says.
This year's race will have an Olympic theme, he continues, complete with beanbag-biathlon for the kids and a small medals podium for the bigger kids.
They won't be handing out any medals though, Rutherford says. "It's not so much about the competition as it is about enjoying the outdoors."
Registration starts at 10:30 a.m. For details, visit stanski.ca.
