By Mary MacLennan,
The Barriere Forks ski and snowshoe trails was a lively, bustling place to be on Wednesday, Feb. 13, as teachers, parents and Barriere Outdoor Club (BOC) volunteer’s worked together to create an educational, fun day for 36 grade 2 and 3 students.
Cold weather and a short supply of snow in the valley may have limited the amount of time the students have had on skis and snowshoes this year at the elementary school but it couldn’t keep this enthusiastic group of students from coming up to BOC’s annual ski and snowshoe day.
This chilly, but sunny day started with the children being transferred up to the ski trails by bus. At the trails they were divided into two groups where half of the students put on their cross country ski boots and went out for an invigorating, brisk ski, while the other half went for a motivating snowshoe with leaders guiding them along the trails beside the partially frozen Barriere river and through the dense forest.
After completing their selected activity the children came back to the warming hut for a hot beverage and lunch before swapping gear and heading back out to ski and snowshoe again.
Along the snowshoe trails educational stations, consisting of antlers, animal track, tree cones and tree branches had been set up to teach the students about various indigenous animals and trees in the area. The students were also asked some challenging, fun questions to test their wildlife knowledge.
At the end of the day door prizes were handed out, and just before the students hopped back onto the bus to head home a homemade snowman treat was given to all the weary skiers.
I would like to acknowledge and thank the different organization that have assisted with the funding over the years, 911 Golf, the Barriere Legion, the Lower North Thompson Community Forest Society, the North Thompson Communities Foundation and the dedicated BOC volunteers that help make these programs possible to the students.
Extensive research has revealed how important outdoor activity is, how it boosts learning, attention, coordination, imagination and so much more. It truly is a win, win situation for all of us.
Happy trails.