For the first time, Mat-Su cross-country skiers will soon be able to get out on the trail close to home, despite the gloom of dark winter evenings.
A $390,000 grant from the Mat-Su Health Foundation will allow the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to install LED lights on 2 1/2 miles of trail in the Government Peak Recreation Area near Hatcher Pass.
That should brighten portions of Pioneer Loop, the Stadium and Matanuska Loop for skiers during the dark days of winter. Pioneer Loop is used by an array of nonmotorized recreationalists including mountain bikers, skijorers, hikers and dog walkers. The other two are ski-only trails.
"It's real significant," said Ed Strabel, president of the Mat-Su Ski Club. "For years, I used to get on the highway, drive to Chugiak, ski an hour, and come back. A bunch of Valley folks used to. This will really enable people to get out in the evening."
That's because there are no lit trails in the 23,000-square-mile borough that's home to more than 95,000 residents, except for about 500 meters of a 2-kilometer loop that Strabel set up on his own property. Junior nordic skiers would practice under Strabel's jury-rigged lights while more experienced skiers relied on their headlamps.
"Lighted trails are expected to increase the trail users by threefold, including youth ski team members and adults who work," said Mat-Su public affairs director Patty Sullivan.
With the grant, recent funding to the Government Peak Recreation Area has crested $1 million. Among the grants:
• $9,934 from the Rasmuson Foundation for trails;
• $190,066 from the foundation for fire protection and kitchen upgrades at the chalet;
• $175,000 from the borough for Government Peak trails;
• $225,000 from the borough for the chalet;
• $20,000 from the Fishhook Community Council for the chalet.
"Your gift is investing in our health, our amenities, our economy," Mat-Su Borough Manager John Moosey said in a press release. "Government Peak is already shaping up to be the statewide winter recreation destination."
Sullivan agreed.
"It's incredible. For one meet, there are hundreds of people up there," she said. "It's such a cool place. Cars parking along the roads for big events. We don't have to drive to Birchwood or Anchorage or elsewhere."
Exactly when the lights will be installed is unclear.
"They're talking about trying to do it this fall," said Strabel, a former nordic ski coach at Palmer, Wasilla and Colony high schools. "But we normally start getting rain in August and September, and when we tried to build the mountain bike trails out there that time of year, it was a quagmire.
"I think it's best to wait for next May. Wait and do it right. Of course, that means skiers will have to suck it up one more year."
Contact Mike Campbell at mcampbell(at)alaskadispatch.com.