Many Chicago-area residents, finally catching their breaths after days of shoveling snow, were grumbling again Friday after a persistent dusting frosted last weekend’s 21.6-inch pile.
But for a hardy band of winter enthusiasts, the past week has been an answer to years of prayers. Local cross-country skiers have endured several winters of mild weather and little snow. But aficionados of the skinny skis have been hitting the trails from Chicago’s lakefront to suburban forest preserves.
“Cross-country skiers are ecstatic,” said Linda Heeter of Evanston, president of the Northwest Nordic Ski Association, which has about 100 members–at least five of whom joined during a meeting Tuesday. “They have been waiting for many years to get those skis out of their garages.”
Many local Nordic ski clubs say they’ve struggled to keep up membership because of a lack of snow. To do some serious skiing, they had to arrange trips to northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the northwest club had more than 200 members, but membership plunged to about 60–largely because of the lack of snow. Some years, it got so bad that the group substituted camping trips for skiing when it could not find snow nearby, said Joyce Palmquist of Barrington, the club’s vice president.
Skiers said this weekend should provide some of the best cross-country skiing, as snow will still be fresh but some early skiers already will have cut trails.
Glenview’s David Silver, 58, joined his son-in-law, Mark Jacobson, and 3-year-old grandson, Joshua Jacobson, on an excursion Friday in the Deer Grove Forest Preserve in Palatine.
“We’re finishing, not because we’re cold but because he’s hungry,” Silver said, pointing to Joshua, who used the break in the action to plunge headlong into a snowbank.
Nearby, John “Mac” McNamara, of Arlington Heights, was packing up after skiing with his wife, Vickie.
“On Tuesday I went out and my nose got a little frostbitten,” he said. “Now it’s perfect.”
The big snow couldn’t have come at a better time for several suburban park districts and other groups, which scheduled cross-country skiing events this weekend.
“The conditions are excellent. We’ve been waiting for snow like this for a long, long time,” said Mike Konrath, director of Camp Sagawau, in Lemont Township, the only Cook County Forest Preserve District location with more than three miles of groomed trails for ski-only use.
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“We get 50 to 80 skiers on cold weekdays, 200 on warmer days,” he said. “On the weekend, we’re going to get mobbed.”
Jeanne Logay of New Lenox was getting an early start Friday at Camp Sagawau.
“Last year, there was plenty of snow, but it only lasted a couple of weeks,” Logay said.
Jim Heil, owner of the Crystal Lake Ski and Bike Shop, said, “This is as good as it gets. Every day you see more tracks.”
A tip to keeping warm, he said, is slathering on petroleum jelly. The likelihood of an uptick in ski sales and rentals also gives Heil a warm glow.
“Ten years ago, we used to have a lot more snow, and our sales were double,” he said. “It was just the lack of snow that caused people to lose interest. The snow is starting to rekindle it.”