Area youth ski, bike team to form

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Ironwood — A small group met in the Ironwood Memorial Building Monday to continue their effort to form a youth ski and biking team in the area.

One of the driving forces behind the creation of the team was to get kids more active on the area’s trail system year-round.

“(The hope) is to get kids out and involved in the things that are available to them in Iron and Gogebic counties,” said Neil Klemme, one of the organizers. “We didn’t have a (cross-country) ski program here, and we’re in the snow belt. We should have a ski program for the kids.”

The program will be affiliated with both the Michigan and Wisconsin 4-H programs, which Klemme — who runs the Iron County 4-H program as Iron County’s University of Wisconsin-Extension youth development educator — explained was primarily for insurance reasons and to make registration easier.

The team, which will be called the Sisu Endurance Team, is hosting an open house event Sunday Dec. 10 at ABR Ski Trails in Erwin Township.

The event will begin with a half-hour registration session and informational meeting, before the kids hit the trails for a learn-to-ski session.

The team is intended for second graders through high schoolers, according to information presented Monday, and will transition to mountain biking once the ski season ends.

There was also talk of expanding the program to include additional sports in the future, however, the decision was made to focus on cross-country skiing and mountain biking for the initial effort.

Andrea Newby, another of the organizers, explained this was largely due to the expertise of those involved in putting the team together. She said there were some very qualified individuals willing to volunteer as coaches for the team, but their backgrounds were in biking and skiing.

The program is open to all levels of skill and competition; with talk of including everyone, from those who haven’t skied before to those interested in competitive events.

“Ski racing is growing and mountain-bike use in high schools is growing across Wisconsin and Michigan,” Newby said. “So this group (is simply trying to) get kids interested in it.”

More information on the team, including the cost, will be available at the open house; or can be found by calling Klemme at 715-561-2695.