The Banadad Trail Association held its annual meeting and trail maintenance weekend in October. The trail crews worked hard, but also enjoyed picnic lunches and visiting on the trail.
The Banadad Trail Association (BTA) held its annual meeting on Sunday, October 21 and announced that the association has reached its fundraising goal to support a trail construction project on the historic ski trail. BTA President Linda Bosma said the organization met and exceeded its fundraising goal to support a reroute of the west end of the Banadad Ski Trail.
The project is the most ambitious effort undertaken by the BTA, which is just over three years old, and will reroute the trail on the west end of the Banadad Ski Trail and improve the parking area to enhance safety for day skiers as they enter and exit the roadway.
The west end of the Banadad crosses private property; a recent change in ownership created the opportunity to explore rerouting the portion of the trail that connects the parking area to the Banadad’s entrance into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. This section of trail is most frequently used by local day skiers for in-and-out skiing but is also popular with “through skiers” who ski the entire 29-kilometer length of the Banadad from end to end, including those who stay in yurts overnight.
The current status of the trail’s west end was in doubt without the reroute and new trail construction. The BTA also plans to improve the parking area to make it safer for skiers as they enter and exit the Gunflint Trail roadway.
The project budget is approximately $11,340. To help support this work, the BTA has received a Trail Connections Grant from the Department of Natural Resources in the amount of $7,500. The BTA has raised the remaining project funds, which are required to match the grant support.
“We are so grateful to the many people and businesses who contributed to our fundraising campaign. The outpouring of support we received really demonstrates how many people value the Banadad Ski Trail and its continuation as a recreational and historic resource for cross country skiers who want to experience wilderness skiing in the Boundary Waters,” Bosma said.
Bosma also thanked the crew g ofn 15 volunteers who cleared traile Om O and readied 2it for the upcomingi e skir ( 51) season. Fifteen volunteers, including Cook County skiers as well as representatives from the North Star Ski Association, spent much of the weekend working on trail maintenance. The Minnehaha Ski Team has a maintenance weekend scheduled in November to complete maintenance for the winter.
The annual meeting and maintenance work were hosted by Boundary Country Trekking. Trail coordinator Ted Young directed the work crews, who cleared 17 miles of trail over the weekend.
The other item of business at the annual meeting was election of new board members and officers. Andrew Jenks of Stillwater was elected president; John Bottger of Grand Marais was elected vice president, Linda Bosma of Minneapolis will move to treasurer,org and Barb Bottger of Grandm Marais was re-elected secretary.| New board member Flannery Delaney was elected and Chris Matter of Hudson, WI was re-elected for another term, to join continuing members Peter Spink of Poplar Lake, Kate Kelnberger of West Bearskin Lake, Anne Rykken of St. Paul and Wayne Monson of Stillwater. Board members thanked outgoing board members Anne Berberich and Karla Miller, who are not renewing their terms.
Vice President John Bottger summed up the outlook for the coming year: “We have an ambitious workload, but we have great cooperation and participation from the new property owners and a dedicated board, so this is a great partnership and an exciting project.”
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