PLENTY OF PINEHURST. Pinehurst Park and OutdoorMore Inc. recently sold their ski lift after discovering it wasn't suited for the slope of the hill.

Despite the recent lack of snow, the Chippewa Valley is still gearing up for a winter full of skiing, skating, snowboarding, sledding, and more. That includes Pinehurst Park, Eau Claire’s hub for outdoor activities. For the past decade, OutdoorMore Inc., a local nonprofit, has been turning Pinehurst Park into a downhill skiing and snowboarding destination, a project that has experienced ebbs and flows.

After significant turnover within the OutdoorMore board of directors of (which is fully run by volunteers), budget support restrictions from the City of Eau Claire, and logistical issues, Pinehurst’s ski lift project has temporarily halted while the group reexamines its options, OutdoorMore Board Secretary Andrew Wians said.

The OutdoorMore Planning and Development Group found that the slope at the top of Pinehurst Hill is too steep to handle the ski lift that the group owned and was planning to install this year. This discovery meant the hill would need significant fill to get the correct slope grade, increasing the project’s cost by a considerable amount. As a result, OutdoorMore sold the lift to Woodwind Park in Dunn County for that business’s new tubing hill.

“The funds from that sale, along with other funds that we've received from grants, are being reserved for a different style of ski lift – a rope tow,” Wians said. “We’re currently working through a new feasibility study to determine the best course of action for lifts for skiing and snowboarding. We want to make sure that any new developments will be sustainable for years to come.”

 

The lift installation was just one part of the overall Winter Facility Development project at Pinehurst Park. OutdoorMore is continuing to raise funds for hill preparations, grooming equipment, storage space, increased insurance, and more lighting for the hill. Last summer, the park received a significant electric service upgrade which will allow for a ski lift in the future.

There is still plenty of fun to be had at Pinehurst once the Valley finally gets some snow, thanks to Pinehurst’s renowned sledding hill as well as its cross-country ski, snowboard, snowshoe, and fat bike trails. Snowboarding lessons will be up and running again this season, and Christie Mountain (W13755 County Road O, Bruce) recently donated snowboarding equipment that will be available to rent at Pinehurst once a lift is operational. “It's going to help out our lessons for people who don’t own a snowboard,” Wians said. “We will be able to get more people out on the hill that way.”

Wians also stressed the importance of proper trail etiquette once the snow does arrive, since Pinehurst’s trails are not groomed daily, which can hinder skiing. (Learn about trail do’s and don’ts online.)

Those who want to get involved in the projects happening at Pinehurst are encouraged to volunteer, donate, and become a member, all of which can be accomplished online at pinehurstpark.org. Follow along on their social media for more updates.

Learn more about Pinehurst Park at pinehurstpark.org and visit at 3523 Delbert Road, Eau Claire.