STEPHEN RICCIO
BRISTOL Nov. 11, 2020
The construction of a new 3.5 km ski trail is underway in Bristol as Ski Pontiac has gotten the help of an MRC Pontiac grant to establish a recreational trail for outdoor goers.
The grant, worth $42,899.26, was announced by MRC economic development director Cyndy Phillips during the Oct. 21 council meeting, and it will be used for . . .
paying for the trail’s construction.
Construction of the trail began on Nov. 2 and is expected to be done so that the trail will be ready for use by December, according to Ski Pontiac communications director Ariane Cloutier.
The ski trail, which will also serve as an all-season trail, is being established in partnership with Pine Lodge on the Bristol resort’s property.
Cloutier said that Pine Lodge management was instrumental in the process of receiving the grant, which came from the MRC’s FRR program.
“They are really working to try and really build something in the community,” she said.
Jodi Thompson, Pine Lodge owner, was hard at work on the trail on Nov. 6, having cleared nearly a third of it at that point with only the help of several other employees.
The trail, which will be roughly eight feet wide, is one of several trails that the non-profit organization has created for public use, but it will become the first all-season trail.
“With COVID, this is a perfect opportunity,” Cloutier said. “From what I hear people are buying skis, they are flying off the shelf and you can’t even buy them.”
In addition to offering groomed trails for skiing, snowshoes will be made available to people who hit up the trail, free of charge.
While the trail will be ready for winter use, further work will be done in the spring to lay down several boardwalks and bridges so that people can walk, run or cycle on the trail while avoiding wet areas.
Ski Pontiac has started a fundraiser for trail maintenance that the public can donate to at https://give.charityvillage.com/Ski_Pontiac_Trail_Campaign.
Their goal is $7,000, and they have so far raised just over $3,000.
