Pretty good handle on things

“You’re the guy who grooms the trails, aren’t you?” asked the woman taking putting on her cross country skis at Fourth of July Pass last weekend.

“Yes,” said Van Bennett.

“You’ve been doing this for years, haven’t you?”

“Yes, about a dozen or so.”

“Well, thanks. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.”

Bolstered by another payment for his efforts, Bennett put on his helmet and goggles and set out on a snowmobile to pack and groom 11 miles of cross country skiing and snowshoeing trails.

“If nothing else, I chase the moose off the tracks,” he said.

Bennett is a member of the Panhandle Nordic Club, which maintains the trails at the pass just south of Interstate 90 in an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service. Funding for plowing and grooming equipment comes from the Idaho State Park N Ski program.

“Originally, when I volunteered to do this, the idea was to come up, do the grooming and then go skiing,” he said. “But it usually doesn’t work out that way. Even when there’s another helper, by the time you’re finished you’re too beat up to want to go skiing.”

After the wind and rain event that erased the snow cover in mid-January, Bennett and other club members put in 26 man-hours just to clear off the downed trees. After the snow began piling up again, they put in another 12 man-hours, packing the snow with snowmobiles and then dragging a track setter.

“If the conditions are right, the grooming can come out beautiful,” he said.

The main trails are gentle, but you can find some narrow, ungroomed connector trails to challenge your skills. A warming cabin has been built on the trail system, and the covered picnic shelter that’s out about 3 miles gets regular use on weekends.

The Panhandle Nordic Club has about 60 members, give or take. The annual dues are only $10 a household. Members are mainstays at Fourth of July Pass, but the club also schedules outings around the region, including trips to Rossland, British Columbia, as well as summer bicycling and paddling excursions.

On Feb. 19, members will each bring something to stir into one big pot for a “rock soup” potluck that will stew in the warming shelter while they go out for a ski on the trails Bennett and other helpers have groomed.

The elevation at Fourth of July Pass is at about 3,100 feet, lower than trail systems at Lookout Pass or Mount Spokane. But if warm weather erases the snow for the upcoming Best Hand fun ski or the rock soup social, members plan to hoof it.

“We make do,” said club President Jim McMillen.

Recently, however, the skiing has been good.

“I can’t be up here all the time and we don’t have a big snowcat for grooming, so the trails can get a little rough at times,” Bennett said. “But people don’t throw things at me, that’s a good sign.

“And when I get done with the packing and go by them pulling the grooming sled, they usually cheer. That’s pretty neat.”