Rocanville Cross Country Ski Club still going strong after 32 years
March 2, 2026, 2:04 pm
Ashley Bochek
The Rocanville Cross Country Ski Club has offered trails and ski equipment for surrounding communities to explore for the past 32 years.
The club continues to see a variety of skiers from all over Saskatchewan and from communities in the area. The club has grown over the years, expanding trails in the 1990s and shortly after adding a fully functioning club house full of rental equipment.
Member of Rocanville Cross Country Ski Club Jaret Lynnes enjoys the company while exploring the trails. He says the group meets Saturday and Sundays and is competing against Esterhazy Cross Country Ski Club on kilometers skied throughout the season.
The interview with the World-Spectator follows:
Tell me about the Rocanville Cross Country Ski Club. What is it about?
It’s a trail that has about 10 km of double-track classic cross country ski trails. There are a number of programs they offer. On Saturdays they have a drop-in program for kids and helpers. At 12:30 pm they go for a short ski for the younger ones and then at 1:30 pm they go for a longer ski. That is always in January and February. Because it’s a drop-in, they get a half-dozen to a dozen kids depending on the weather and other activities going on.
I’ve lived in Rocanville for about 30 years and up until three years ago I didn’t know Esterhazy had a ski club. I thought Rocanville was just a rare occurrence. So we’ve heard lots of people say around the area they haven’t heard of it ,so it is great to get it out to the public through the paper. Sometimes people are looking for things to do, especially over Christmas and breaks.
When does skiing start and when does it end?
For the Jack Rabbit program ,which is the kids, it runs January and February. The adult ski is roughly all winter long. It is weather dependent, so some years it starts in November if we get an early snow. As soon as they get enough snow on the ground, they will start setting a track. Depending on how the spring goes, you can ski up to April usually, but sometimes it is mid-March. It was looking a little thin a few weeks ago, but with the snowstorm that came, we hope we can keep going. They do allow Nordic walking in the summertime on the trails. They keep the grass mowed so it can be used year around, but just for the skiing part, it is weather dependent on whether there is enough snow on the ground.
The Jack Rabbit program goes for about an hour on the trails. They go a short distance, and it really depends on the kids that show up that day. We had a kid come a few weekends ago who was two years old. My daughter comes out once in a while to help out and she is in Grade 12 so they get kids from all ages. Some of the parents come and some don’t have to. Heather Graham is the one who runs the Jack Rabbit program and goes out on the trails with them.
How often do the adults and kids go?
The Jack Rabbits go every Saturday and the younger ones go first and the older ones later. Then Sundays at 2 pm we have a drop-in as well for anyone who wants to ski with the group, which is also especially good for anyone who is a first timer because then there is someone around to help them get set up.
How big is your group? How many people come out to ski?
Once we found out Esterhazy had their ski club as well, we started a contest last year to see which club could get the most number of people out and ski the most kilometers and ski the same most number of days, so we made a trophy and Rocanville won last year. We did 4,909 km as a club which is amazing. That was only 30 km more than the Esterhazy club. To do that, we had 524 different individuals come out and ski different times. It is not small for this area.
Some people come out every week and others may only come once with their family. There is equipment there that you can rent, so you just show up and there is usually a fire on in the warm-up building with instructions on how to set up the skis and there is nice trail signs so people can go out for as long as they like.
This year we are running the contest with Esterhazy again. Rocanville is at 2,424 km so far. We just accumulate the kilometers based on how many people ski, and then see how many we can amass at the end of the year.
Where do you see people come from to ski?
There are people from all over that come. There is a couple I met around Christmas time that was travelling from Saskatoon to Winnipeg, so they drove off the number one came and skied for a little while and then continued on their way to Winnipeg. The last two weeks there has been a family from Virden that has come just because the equipment is here and ready for people to use.
It is $10 a day to ski and then $10 for equipment. They have family passes and day passes. It is $40 a family for day pass and equipment rental.
How long has it been going on?
It has been going for the last 27 years. The trails are on three different quarter sections of land and the warm-up shack and trail is on the Hack land, and Heather Graham’s maiden name is Hack, so Dennis Hack and Lane McFarlane started this club sometime back in the 90s.
How did you get involved and what is your role?
I am a member of the club. I really enjoy seeing it advertised in different places since we’ve moved to town. I really enjoy skiing on the trails and getting to know new people and getting a little bit of exercise.
It has been actively used quite a bit. The weather is a big factor in how much the trails get used. On the minus 30-degree weeks there are not too many people, but there is still the odd person that goes out.
Why do you continue to do it?
It is just a lot of fun. It is very quiet out on the trails because you are skiing through the bush, not on an open field. You’re protected from the wind. You see a lot of wildlife out there and it is just a chance to meet more people from the area as well.
Everyone is welcome. It is open to everyone. It is very simple to do. It maybe is hard to be good at it, but it is easy to be okay at it.
Since the season is coming to an end—is there any events the group has planned before spring?
Coming up still and throughout the year we had moonlight skis on days there was a full moon. So at 7 pm people would bring a potluck dessert and then go skiing under the moon. So, March 1 at 7 pm, we are still going to have our last moonlight ski. We also host loppets. They aren’t races, but fun participation events. They had a loppet on January 31 and there is a bunch of pictures on Facebook with prizes for participation from youngest to oldest, for most colorful outfits, different categories. Our last event is going to be March 7. It is going to be a marathon relay. People can ski one loop and then get team members to ski the other loops until a team completes 42 km or some people are going to try to do the whole 42 km.
If anyone has questions about the marathon relay, they can give me a call. That is also a non-timed event, just a fun event for anyone interested.
More information on the ski club can be found on Facebook at Rocanville Cross Country Ski Club, or by calling Jaret Lynnes at 306-434-8774.
Rocanville Cross Country Ski Club history
1991: After several years of trying to break trails on road allowances and find good places to ski, a small group of skiers headed off into the pasture where the club now skis. They found a beautiful place to ski, but the underbrush made it difficult to enjoy skiing, so plans were started to clear some bush.
November 1992: the small group started to clear a trail through the bush.
1992- 1994: The group continued to expand the trail network through the wooded pasture and more people joined in the fun.
December 1995: The Rocanville Cross Country Ski Club was formed and registered with Sask Ski. They were now skiing on land that was owned by four different land owners. The number of people skiing continued to grow. The land owners, who were also skiers, and the rest of the group started asking who was liable if something went wrong. Becoming a member of Sask Ski addressed the concerns they had.
1996: The clubhouse was purchased and moved to the trail head. A wood stove was donated and as well as other furnishings. The club could now offer the members hot chocolate and a place to relax after their ski.
1996-present: Donated ski equipment was left in the clubhouse and was available for use
1997: The club started purchasing used equipment and offering the equipment for rent. The club decided to let the club run on the honour system and found this was very successful.
1999: Water and power were put into the ski shelter. This allowed the club to set up a waxing station in the club house.
1996-present: The club uses the resources of Cross Country Saskatchewan (funding through Saskatchewan Lotteries) for grants with the grant monies based on the number of members. The grants are used to assist with trail maintenance and expansion, trail setting equipment, club house, ski clinics, coaching clinics, and support of the programs they offer.
2005: A trail conditioner was purchased with the assistance of a grant from CCS.
The club purchased their own snowmobile to use for trail grooming.
2005-2008: The club offered ski programs for the youth. The coach and volunteers were Rocanville Cross Country ski club members. The coach was also the Youth Programs Director on the Cross Country Sask Provincial Board.
Additional new ski equipment was purchased every year with funds coming from the club monies and grants.
Work continues to improve the trail network.
2010: Snowcat with trail groomer purchased with funds coming from club monies, PotashCorp and a personal donation.
2012: The ski club was insulated and updated with grant funding.
2012: The old three-pin equipment was retired and club now has for rent a full selection of new equipment.
2023: The club name was changed to Rocanville Cross Country Trails Inc.
In 2021 there was a multi year support commitment from the RM of Rocanville.
Agreement with landowners to rent the land for the ski trails, allowing for more stability for year-round use of the trails and continued trail development.
Trails mowed and maintained throughout the summer months
2020: Planting of spruce and pine seedlings started. To date 1,300 trees have been planted in the native poplar bush. Planting ongoing each year.
Complete exterior of clubhouse redone, windows, doors and siding.
2023-24: Major rebuild and refurbishment of the snowcat: Maintenance, tracks and final drive with support from Mosaic and Nutrien potash mines
2024: Trail network expanded, maintenance and improvement ongoing.
The complete ski and walking experience is yours to enjoy—the beautiful outdoors, warm fire in the stove, hot chocolate, fellowship and more!
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