North Rim ski center shuts down

North Rim ski center shuts down

By BLAKE MORLOCK

Sun Staff Reporter

The vacation was hailed by the Boston Globe as one of the top 10, ski trips in America. Outside Magazine called it one of the 50 best outdoor adventures in the world. It was also written up in publications with as much broad appears as National Geographic and those like Cross Country Skier, with specific readerships.

But unfortunately for The Nordic Center at the North Rim, consistently ranked as one of the nation's best cross-country ski excursions, quality wasn't a money maker and the center is closing it's doors after seven years.

Joy Iris Stavely, vice-president of Flagstaff outdoor adventure company Canyoneers Inc., said the company had to shut down the center this year and liquidate their equipment.

"We had incredible accolades from all our writers and all our guests," Stavely said, "But we couldn't reach the point where we were even breaking even."

Stavely said the enterprise would have to attract 650 people a season to keep the enterprise out of red ink.

Canyoneers best season on the North Rim brought in 510. "Our losses were getting less and less every year but they were still pretty large and we, didn't have any reason to believe things would change dramatically in the near future."

Go Canyoneers offered cross country ski trips to the secluded northern edge of the canyon, after guests were hauled in 25 miles from Jacob Lake to the Kaibab Lodge, a rustic old 25-room haunt six miles from the Grand Canyon.

The price tag for a two-night vacation was $370 plus tax per person, double occupancy. The money included lodging, all transportation to and from the lodge, three meals a day (breakfast and lunch buffets and ample entrees like prime rib and salmon for dinner).

There were 84 kilometers of cross country ski trails and guests could also snowshoe up along the north rim. But Stavely said all the food; laundry, equipment and extras necessary for the trip had to be brought in 25 miles and carried by sport utility vehicles mounted on what looks like tank tracks. That’s why operations were so costly.

Go Canyoneers offers an array of summer trips into the canyon, like river rafting that subsidized the cross country skiing venture.

The North Rim is often the rim of choice for outdoor enthusiasts because it is more remote, less traveled and - arguably - offers better vistas than the more populous, south rim.

Marilee Fowler, director of the Flagstaff Convention and. Visitor's Bureau called the loss of the North Rim Package "a shame." "I’ve been there up in the summertime and it’s gorgeous," she said. "It’s nice to have those unique products that will draw people in during the winter."

Lin Picard, clerk of the North Rim National Park service office, said the Kaibab Lodge was the only outfit that did anything significant during the winter area. Now, she said, she expects it to be virtually devoid of humanity for the winter. So devoid of Homo sapiens she said, that the Park Service wouldn’t charge fees for those souls, hearty enough to bushwhack 25 miles from the nearest road to the park boundary, where it's still a good distance to the rim.

"Basically, people don't know about it," she said. "Now that the Kaibab Lodge is closing down, there's going to be a lot less traffic. Most people- aren't willing to ski 45 miles in (to the rim)."

In fact, she said it's easier for people to get to the North Rim from the South Rim than to drive, park and, figure out how to progress through the wilderness.

(reprinted with permission: Arizona Daily Sun, Saturday, December 20, 1997 pp1, 8)

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