West Bragg Creek ski trails: No longer a hidden gem, but a mecca for winter sports

It's 11 a.m. on a Wednesday and the parking lot is full.

"Four to five years agothis would be empty during the week."

Peter Tucker has been comingto these West Bragg Creek trails to ski and hike for 37 years, long before the place was discovered as a go-to place for winter sports.

He's now president of the Greater Bragg Creek Trails Association.

The lot is full ofcross-country skiers waxing their skis, dogs eager to run, and people unloading the hefty bikes that have become the rage this year.

"Last year,one to two per cent of people here were fat tire biking, now it's 20 per cent."

At a time when downhill ski resorts are seeing their use remain flat or decline, the West Bragg Creek trails have seen an explosion in use over the past few years.

There are now over 155,000visits made here annually, making this the most popular freedestination for winter nordic sports in Alberta.

There are many reasons for the success: this place is an hour's drive from downtown Calgary, it's seen the best snow in years, there are 130kilometres of trails (50kilometresfor skiing, the rest for biking and snowshoeing), dogs are welcome and perhaps the biggest draw it's free.

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Thank the volunteers

It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but today it's the dentist, geologist and doctor all out grooming the trails.

Jeff Hughes (he's the now former dentist) has logged 800 hours over the past 18 months keeping these trails in good shape.

"We love to ski so we're happy to do it. We think the area is so beautiful so we're lucky and privileged to be able to do it."

Alongside him is the geologist, Bill Hoyne.

"I work in the Gulf of Mexico so I commute back and forth. I'm out for three weeks then back for three. So I get these big chunks of time where I can come and play around here and ski and groom trails."

They usually don't start maintaining the trails until the sun starts to go down and parking lot has emptied out.

That way they don't have to worry about running down skiers. And the track they set in the snow has the night to harden.

"If it's a nice clear night you can see the stars. You've got the big headlights on the front and the back so you can see where you're going. And you're just wandering through the woods at night."

Hughes chimes in, "It's quite spectacular. We're really quite lucky to do this."

It's a labour of lovebut don't be fooled, it's a labour.

Grooming the trails with the K-truck

It's a three-part process to groom these trails, all done on snow machine or using their newest purchase, a little truck on tracks, called a "K-truck."

They have to chop up the snow that's been packed down (called "aerating the snow") then flatten it to looklike corduroy.

Finally, they carve two parallel lines in the snow for the tracks for skiing.

They move along quicklybut there are 50kilometres of ski trails; depending on how much it has snowed, this can take them anywhere from three to eight hours.

And remember, they do it all as volunteers.

David Cebuliak (he's the doctor)says it helps him relax:"I'm an emerg doc so I use this to de stress from work."

Like the other two, Cebuliak lives in West Bragg Creek and has been using these trails since long before they became so popular.

Helping hamlet of BraggCreek

The hamlet of BraggCreek was hit hard by the floods of 2013, and some key businesses have recently closed shop.

Bill Hoyne hopes increased traffic to these trails can also help the hamlet.

"Bragg Creek hasn't really recovered from the floods of 2013. Bragg Creek definitely needs a boost. I think creating this trail system out here is going to be one of those things that encourage that."

And they figure that the more traffic the trails get, the less likely the area is to be logged more extensively.

"That's not our primary reason for doing this," saidCebuliak, "but if that's what happens, I won't complain."

Spray Lakes Sawmills has timber rights in much of the area surrounding these trails. Many of the ski trails are on old logging roads.

Too much love?

There are downsides to this explosion in use: ask anyone who lives along the access road to these trails.

"The increased amount of traffic for some people is problematic," agrees Peter Tucker from the trails association.

During the busiest days, traffic is parked on both sides of the access road for a kilometre.

And the parking lot seems to encourage that kind of random parking that happens when there aren't lines designating stalls, although the parking lot is set for redevelopment in 2017.

And now that these trails are being better maintained, the expectations are higher, says David Cebuliak.

"It is a challenge to meet the demand of the broader use that's being attracted. Because it seems like the bar is raised and raised and raised. And now we're getting people commenting about little imperfections that were never on the radar before."

But for today, they finish their grooming, look around and ask:"Time for a ski?"