The WNMS Annual General Meeting was held Thursday, February 27th at the Tumbler Ridge Visitor Information Centre and was attended by 20 members. The Minutes of the meeting are available to current members.

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2024 President’s Report for AGM Feb 27, 2025

Greetings, Wolverine Nordic and Mountain Society Members and Friends!

WNMS acknowledges that the land on which we live, work, and play is within the bounds of Treaty 8 and is the traditional, ancestral territory of the Dunne-za, Saulteau, Tse’khene, Cree and Metis peoples, including the Nations of McLeod Lake, Saulteau, West Moberly, and Kelly Lake Cree, as well as the Kelly Lake Metis Settlement Society.

In 2025 we continue to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the WNMS! The founding directors: David Pewsey, Al Tattersall, Charles Helm, Edward Hillary, Kevin Sharman, Lumir Bakota, Don Nesbitt and Brian Morgan, officially incorporated the WNMS under the Society Act of BC on November 21,1995.

A lot of water has passed over the falls in that time and the WNMS has weathered the many storms that have passed through this community to emerge stronger each year. The Mission of the WNMS has always been to promote and develop all aspects of people-powered outdoor recreation in the Tumbler Ridge area; including the creation, maintenance, and improvement of hiking trails, cross-country ski trails, and wilderness recreation facilities. We are excited about being a key member of TRORA which is emerging as an excellent collaboration between the 4 main outdoor clubs in town, which is promoting sustainable use of the backcountry and providing access to funding through the many potential sources.   

2024 was another big year for volunteer activities and projects. Notwithstanding the grooming of the ski trails in winter, guiding the Canada Day Hike, running the Emperor’s Challenge in the summer and building new wilderness campgrounds in the fall, maintaining the trails remains our most important and laborious activity throughout the year. It seems like more and more trees are blowing over each year, increasing the amount of volunteer work needed for trail maintenance. We had over 50 volunteers in 2024 completing over 1700 hours of volunteer work on 88 days. This includes the hours spent on trail maintenance, special projects, meetings and of course, the Emperor’s Challenge. In comparison, in 2023, we had 25 volunteers complete 659 hours of volunteer work on 47 days (not including the approximately 350 hours of volunteer time dedicated to the Emperor’s Challenge). Our appreciation and thanks are extended to all of our fantastic volunteers! 

In 2025, the WNMS, with support from TRORA, is planning to provide volunteers with training in 1st Aid and the use of chainsaws for bucking fallen trees. Work Bees will also provide opportunities for working with hand tools like brush saws and clippers or providing muscle for moving logs and branches.

In 2024, our major project was the expansion of the Windfall Lake campground by 4 pads and the building of a new 8-pad campsite at Bootski Lake. This project was in planning as far back as 2020. Funding from the District of Tumbler Ridge and the Peace River Regional District was approved in 2022 and the project had to be completed by the end of 2024. Unfortunately, authorization was only received on July 5, 2024 with a deadline of October 31. Realistically, the Board of Directors knew that the campgrounds needed to be built before the onset of winter in the alpine, meaning no later than the end of September. These were tight restraints on the project as materials and services needed to be secured as soon as possible. For example, the only source capable of supplying an appropriate bear-proof food locker in time was located in California. The locker needed to be manufactured and shipped via customs broker. It arrived on September 12th. The Board, already burdened with our usual trail clearing duties and the Emperor's Challenge, came to the conclusion that it needed to hire a project manager in order to meet the budget and the deadline. The Board chose to contract a Board member who was capable and willing to take on the project without delay. The project was completed on-time and under budget, with all expenses covered by the grants from the two districts. 

The WNMS was happy to announce the opening of our new website in March 2024. The website features trail maps, brochures, news, events, activity updates and Emperor’s Challenge information. Some of the great website features are the ability to register as a member and to sign up for the Emperor’s Challenge. Membership fees will remain at $20/year for individuals and $40/year for families. Annual, automatically recurring fees go toward trail maintenance. Membership benefits include newsletters, early access to registration for WNMS events such as the Emperor's Challenge, the ability to book overnight stays at the Lost Haven Cabin and the ability to vote at the AGM. We currently have 139 members in good standing, including individuals, families and legacy members. Thank you to Yvonne Poulin for managing the member registrations.

After 4 years of planning, consultations and presentations to town council, we have finally received approval from the District of Tumbler Ridge to lease the land between the baseball diamonds and the saddle club to build a Disc Golf course. Submissions for grant funding has been initiated with the support of TRORA. Course design is ongoing and construction is anticipated for the summer of 2025.

The Emperor's Challenge Committee for 2025 has announced that this may be the final year that the event will be held on Babcock Mountain. It will be the 25th Anniversary of the event. Alternate routes and events are currently being discussed for 2026 and beyond. The Committee is asking for new volunteers who are willing to help organize this year's event. Please contact the committee at contact@wnms.ca if you are interested in helping out.

Overall, trail use by the general public was up in 2024, over 2023, as evidenced by our trail counter network, which Birgit Sharman manages. The trail brochures have also been updated this year by Birgit. We will have Birgit speak about the trail usage later in the meeting.

John Hoult, the builder of the “Green Benches”, and one of our cherished Legacy members, donates his time generously to the WNMS and we thank him for his contributions over the years. We are now up to 33 benches, I believe, with the latest one installed along the banks of the Murray River near the mouth of Quality Creek. He also went out with a group of volunteers in 2024 to repair the bench at the cabin pools which had been crushed by a fallen tree.

Also, in 2024, Rec Sites and Trails BC negotiated and signed a new 5-year Partnership Agreement with the WNMS. This agreement allows the WNMS to legally build and maintain trails and wilderness campgrounds in the Tumbler Ridge area. RSTBC provides some funding and support when available. For example, RSTBC provided advanced chainsaw training and danger tree assessment courses for two of our Board members in 2024. They also provided funding for the porcupine fencing and signage at the Windfall Lake trailhead parking area.

Our Board of Directors was elected in February 2024 and meets at least once per month to plan and organize the WNMS activities. In addition to the monthly Board meetings, there are subcommittees for the planning of the Emperor's Challenge and the Disc Golf Course. We welcome nominations for new Board members for 2025.

Thank you,

Dave Thompson

President, WNMS,

on behalf of the WNMS Board of Directors

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