Winterfest delivers cool family fun

Update: Winterfest has been postponed to Jan. 21, due to frigid temperatures. 

If you resolved to exercise more this year, the Spokane Nordic Ski Association is offering a cool incentive to get you on track toward that goal with their upcoming Winterfest celebration at Mount Spokane State Park.

“The spirit of this event is just getting everybody outside. Getting the community together and ideally appealing to new skiers,” Spokane Nordic Ski Association Events Director Trevor Finchamp said. “(For) anyone that’s relatively new to the sport, this is just the perfect opportunity to get out and give it a try.”

A one-day function, which offers discounted cross-country ski lessons to adults and kids at beginner and intermediate levels without a Spokane Nordic membership, Winterfest is geared toward families and fellowship with an added emphasis on fun. This year’s gala will include a treasure hunt on skis as well as free snacks and hot ski waxes from event sponsor, Rambleraven Gear Trader. Also on the Winterfest agenda, a Skijoring clinic for canines and their owners.

“It’s cross-country skiing while you’re tethered to your dogs. Kind of like sled dog racing, except rather than being on a sled, you’re on your skis,” Finchamp said. “I go up there just to spectate myself, because the dogs are having so much fun and it’s just such a sight to behold with all of these dogs just sprinting around and shredding it up.” Back for his second year is Captain Ginge, who will delight skiers of all ages with his colorful stories about grooming Mount Spokane ski trails at night.

“The Nordic community has just kind of fallen in love with this guy,” Finchamp said.

While Winterfest provides novice skiers with a great opportunity to learn about proper gear and mountain safety, Spokane Nordic Ski Association President Matt Halloran said the volunteer-driven event also affords an excellent avenue for Spokane-area newcomers to meet and mingle with members of the local ski community.

“Inevitably, we will give lessons to somebody who has never been on snow before and we will see them up (on the mountain) again the next weekend or the next month and a lot of those folks bring their families. It gets people outdoors in a time of year when sometimes it can be a bit difficult to do that,” added Halloran, who lauded the many benefits of cross-country skiing. “The experience is healthy. It’s fulfilling. It’s something that just makes you feel better at the end of the day.”

In an effort to appeal to more people, Winterfest has expanded over the years to include educational clinics hosted by other local nonprofit groups. This year, members of the Spokane Mountaineers will be on hand to discuss 13 ski essentials and the Friends of Mount Spokane State Park will enlighten guests with historical background information about the mountain.

“What we’ve tried to do by adding these other nonprofits is to not only shed some light on their work, but really just give people a few more things to do while they are up there,” said Finchamp, who is hopeful that the inclusion of a clinic with adaptive ski equipment demonstrations will help recruit guides for blind skiers.

“We thought that giving people a chance to put themselves in someone else’s shoes might motivate them to volunteer.”

People interested in taking ski lessons at this year’s Winterfest event must register in advance on the Spokane Nordic Ski Association website. Parking passes and ski rental fees are not included in that cost.

“We would strongly encourage you to sign up for a lesson, if you’ve ever been serious at all about skiing,” Halloran said, “and we hope to see a lot of new faces out on the mountain.”