Alicia Lew takes to the cross-country ski trail at Police Point Park on Tuesday. (CHAT News photo)

By Alex McCuaig

The great outdoors

Hatters embracing winter activities

Nov 18, 2020 | 4:59 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – After a spring shutdown of many activities due to COVID restrictions which lasted into summer, Hatters rediscovered outdoor activities like cycling, camping and hiking in droves.

And it’s looking like winter activities like skiing, snowshoeing and skating are heading in the same direction.

The first snowfall in the Cypress Hills in October and level of interest in cross-country skiing is something the park’s head of visitor services says he believes is a sign of things to come.

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“We saw a lot of vehicles parked up at our Spring Creek trailhead,” said Mike Ractliffe. “The parking lot was full, which is quite unusual. So it seemed like the first snowfall that people were so keen to get out there that they got out there whether it was groomed or not. They got onto the trails and started laying their own tracks down.”

The most recent snowfall last week saw more than 120 cm of snow fall on the Cypress Hills in two days with park staff focused on clearing snow on roads and parking lots.

Their focus now is on getting its skate trail, cross-country tracks, natural luge and the Hidden Valley ski hill up and running for the holiday season.

Activities he expects will be popular as “the outdoors is the only safe environment where you can really go to find the space to social distance.”

It’s much the same in the city at Police Point Park with its cross-country trails and snowshoeing seeing lots of traffic after the dump of snow that blanketed the area.

“It seems that with everything happening in the world right now, people are looking for an opportunity to get outside, do something new,” said Alicia Lew, park interpreter, “And it seems that snowshoeing and cross-country skiing is something they are gravitating toward. It’s good to see that.”

Lew says Police Point Park has a large collection of cross-country skis and shoes to rent along with various types of snowshoes.

Gravity Sports owner Ben Roscoe says he is seeing a “mass influx of people wanting to get outside and do things. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen in my life.”

While stocked with mostly downhill ski equipment, Roscoe says he is already having a busier than usual sales season.

Roscoe says that the effect of more people enjoying the outdoors may be a silver lining to the pandemic.

“The best part about it is seeing families come in, getting back to roots and doing simple things,” he said. “Going outside and spending time together rather than having to run people all over the place and being together as a family unit.”