Killarney Lake Ski Cross Park: From Vision to Reality

PLANTING SEEDS FOR ‘FUN SKI PARK’

In 2012, Wostawea moved our ski programs from Odell, where it had been for a couple of decades, to Killarney Lake Park. This was a big move for the club although it was necessary for the growth of cross country skiing in Fredericton. After our first season at Killarney, Eric Luiker asked Nathalie Comeau, the Jackrabbit Program Director at the time, for her views on the transition from Odell to Killarney. Nathalie mentioned that while the Killarney trails are great, there are no hills close to the lodge for the younger Jackrabbit skiers to learn and play on. The first seeds were planted! 

WHERE ARE THE HILLS?

Members of the Wostawea executive started to look around to see what options exist for hillier terrain at Killarney close to the lodge. Most other cross country ski facilities have existing hills they can develop into “fun ski parks” just by moving snow around into different obstacles and jumps. Alas, we found no hills near the lodge and had to put our creative toques on to consider other options. 

Let’s Design Our Own Park

Always up for a challenge, we decided to take the matter into our own hands and design our own ski park. Eric undertook to find someone with experience designing such a facility and was surprised to discover that no one had ever designed the type of park we envisioned. 

Partnering For One Of A Kind Ski Cross Park

With financial support from Remsoft, we began to work with John Morton, of Morton Trails, one of the few cross country ski trail designers on the continent. Our goal was to create a new concept for what we began calling a “ski cross park”. Morton Trails provided Wostawea with conceptual drawings for the park. Parks and Trees supervisor, Mike Glynn, provided early input and support and these plans were finally presented to the City once the Killarney Lake Management Plan was approved.  Our City partners gave the thumbs up to proceed.

Michel Poirier, a civil engineer with Roy Consultants and current Youth Programs Lead for Wostawea, took the conceptual drawings and created engineered drawings for the ski cross park. Working with City park planner, Julie Baker, and Jeremy Wilson and his crew responsible for the construction work, the park started to really take shape this summer with mounds of dirt showing up on the field areas next to the lodge.  Further work was done this fall with the City shaping and sculpting the mounds of dirt to match the design drawings.  The park will be 600 metres in length and will be a magnet for skiers of all ages and levels! 

We expect phase 1 to be completed this year. The final phase of the ski cross park will be completed by 2023 with signage, a trail head and further course shaping. Picture skiers playing on the moguls, navigating the twists and turns, working on their uphill and downhill technique, and skiing the 600 metres as a “ski cross course” like they do in Europe. 

Please Take A Bow

We extend great big thanks to the City of Fredericton for supporting the project and to City staff who provided oversight, expertise and enthusiasm for a game-changing enhancement to Killarney Lake Park. 

We also want to give a big shout out to Remsoft for their early financial support, Michel Poirier with Roy Consultants who provided engineering support at no cost, and Eric Luiker for making sure a ski park vision became reality.