Thanks to the winter weather that stuck around in Greater Sudbury well into spring this year, Richard LeBlanc said he was able to go skiing at the Onaping Falls Nordics Cross-Country Ski Club May 1.
As far as LeBlanc knows, that's the latest anyone has ever gone spring skiing at the club, which is partially located in Windy Lake Provincial Park. The latest LeBlanc himself has ever skied before is April 28.
LeBlanc, 73, who's married to the club's current president, Lise LeBlanc, said he's been skiing for more than 45 years, and first went skiing at the Onaping Falls club in the late 70s.
He said he's been grooming the club's trails for 25 years, and tries to stretch the ski season as much as he can in both the spring and fall because he loves skiing and he loves winter.
The snow usually stays longer in Windy Lake than in other areas because the trails are sheltered from the sun by large evergreen trees.
“This morning I skate skied around the green trail a couple of times and there were some spots where I had to be careful because there was very little snow left and one spot where I carefully walked with my skis across the dead grass,” said LeBlanc in an email to Sudbury.com.
“I was wearing my oldest pair of skate skis. The glide was good and I was careful about staying away from the edges as the snow was much softer there - but the middle was still very good.”
But that was definitely LeBlanc's last ski of the season.
“With the warmer temperatures during the day and especially with the temperature staying above zero at night, conditions will deteriorate very fast,” he said. “My skis have now been waxed for summer storage.”
