by Nathan Boddy
The Lake Como area is well known for its recreation opportunities in the summer and shoulder seasons, but this swath of public land doesn’t stop close up when the snow flies. It is precisely when the snow is at its best that volunteers from the Bitterroot Cross Country Ski Club (BCCSC) get to work on making a perfect place for outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy more of Montana’s spectacular outdoors.
“It’s a great way to get outside in the valley in the winter,” says Jesse Crocker, Vice President of the Club. “A lot of people have summer activities, but cross-country skiing provides a great way to get exercise, at all ability levels, in the winter.” He also adds that cross-country skiing is a “significantly less expensive sport” than its sibling, alpine skiing, and doesn’t require being tethered to a ski lift. Crocker says that he often sees people who approach the sport in an aggressive manner like sport running, but others who see it more like “a casual walk with friends,” or, “being at sunset taking a stroll with their dogs.”
The BCCSC formed 31 years ago, specifically to promote cross-country skiing at Chief Joseph Pass atop the Continental Divide on Highway 43, just a few miles east of Lost Trail Ski Area. Gordon Reese, whose name now graces the warming cabin at Chief Joseph, worked for years in order to secure permission for the project and ultimately form the ski club. The group’s ongoing efforts at Chief Joseph, along with their partnership with the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and Lost Trail Ski Area (which performs grooming for the Club during the late winter), have meant the long term management of 30 miles’ worth of trails and approximately 20,000 ‘user days’ for that recreation site alone.
Following in the tracks of the BCCSC, the Como Trails Club was formed in 2009 by Tony Neaves, Randy Leavell and Annie Creighton in order to establish another location for the sport to the south of Lake Como. While its operation ended after six years, the groundwork had been established, making it easier for the BCCSC to pick up the site in 2018. With the Como Trails being an extension for the BCCSC, the organization of some 400 volunteers has added an additional 15 miles’ worth of trails to its offerings. Neaves mentions that the area has become quite popular due to, “being a short drive from town and getting to bring your dog along.”
Despite the high quality amenity that is being provided by the club, it is one that is done entirely on volunteer hours, club membership and matching grants from the Recreational Trails Program of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Essentially, anyone interested in trying it out can drive up and give it a go. Jess Crocker says that to get a cross-country skiing experience in many places in the U.S., “it’s not unusual to pay $25 a day.” For the Bitterroot Cross Country Ski Club, however, a free experience is, “something that the founders really believed in. That’s it (stay) free for people to ski.”
The BCCSC is interested in providing new experiences for beginning skiers, but also to provide places for people to engage in other winter sport activities such as dogsledding, snowshoeing, fat bike riding and even has some trails open to snowmobiles. In the past they’d also run a school program for children to come up to Chief Joseph and learn to ski, but have that on hold due to Covid.
For an organization that puts in over 1000 hours of volunteer effort to facilitate a great outdoor experience during the depth of winter, the way Jesse Crocker sums it up is quite simple.
“It’s a quiet sport done in nature.”