'Granny groomers' keeping Britannia Winter Trail in tip-top shape
"What this trail has done for our community has been amazing"
Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Published Jan 14, 2023 • Last updated 14 hours ago • 4 minute read
They call themselves the Britannia Winter Trail’s “Granny Groomers” — kindly seniors who drink tea, “crochet in their spare time, have lots of hard candies and you know they have tissues in their sleeves.”
Whether all of that is true is open for debate: Judy Dudley and Marlene Cross are more likely to spend their spare time in kayaks or on cross-country skis than sipping afternoon tea. But Dudley and Cross really are grandmothers and, astride a powerful snow machine, the two friends help keep all 16 kilometres of the multi-use winter trail system in west-end Ottawa open for business.
“I’ve done a lot of volunteering in my adult life. Hands down this is the most rewarding,” said Cross, 60, a grandmother of two. “It’s so good for the community. It’s good for my family, if they’re visiting. So, yes, it’s hands down the most rewarding.”
Now in its third full season, the Britannia Winter Trail is run by volunteers and has groomed trails from Cleary Avenue in the east to the Nepean Sailing Club in the west. (NCC construction along the riverfront in Belltown means the trail isn’t continuous this winter.)
That means groomers such as Cross and Dudley — there are about 10 in all — spend up to seven hours a day on their snow machines, dragging heavy sleds that set the snow along the Trans-Canada Trail and on various side loops. Dudley, president of the association, estimates the system has seen as many as 80,000 visits through the COVID pandemic.
“People just came out of the woodwork,” said Dudley, 63.
“I got an email from a gentleman who was using the trail every day because he was so isolated. He said, ‘You saved my life. We have somewhere to go every day.’ I keep that top of mind for days when I’m tired of going out in -15 C or -20 C. I remember that that’s why we’re doing this.”
This year, the trail network has been extended around Cleary and Ambleside, bringing access right to people’s front doors. Dudley counts one couple — he’s 91 and she’s in her late 80s — among her favourite trail users.
“We have many elderly neighbours in this community and we don’t have sidewalks and there was nowhere for them to walk. They used to go to Carlingwood and walk around the mall, but they said ‘We’d love to be outside instead.’ Now they’re walking the trails.”
Cross and Dudley first met at a public meeting organized by Bay Ward Coun. Theresa Kavanagh to gauge support for the idea of a trail network in Britannia. The Kichi Sibi Winter Trail network (then known as the SJAM Winter Trail) and Ski Heritage East in Orléans were already up and running with a free community trail network.
After a four-week pilot project in the winter of 2018-19 using a $2,000 second-hand Ginzugroomer shipped from Prince Edward Island and a snowmobile borrowed from a Belltown neighbour, the Britannia Winter Trail was officially launched in 2019-2020.
Thanks to community fundraising, some money from the city and the NCC and successful grant applications, the system now has its own $15,000 Skandic snowmobile and its brand new $25,000 Can-Am Outlander tracked all-terrain vehicle. The group has also received 25 sets of kids’ ski sets that it plans to use for clinics teaching young people how to cross-country ski.
While the “grannies” and the other groomers are the most public face of the trail, a whole volunteer network toils behind the scenes to keep the system going.
“There’s a whole board of directors that put in hour after hour after hour,” Cross said. “They deal with the city and set up the insurance. There is a treasurer who spends hours each week figuring out our expenses. Then there are people who come up with fundraising ideas and events. It’s a perfect partnership.”
As president, Dudley estimates she spends about 20 hours a week working on the trail, either on grooming or on board matters. A relatively new resident of Belltown, Dudley says she can’t walk anywhere without stopping to chat with newfound friends on the trail.
“What this trail has done for our community has been amazing,” Cross said.
“I’ve lived in Belltown for 28 years. And having the trail here has just opened up so many doors to meeting people. The community has become much more friendly.”
People can contribute to the Britannia Winter Trail through its GoFundMe page
To keep track of grooming and ski conditions on the Britannia Winter Trail and other Ottawa urban trails, visit
nordic-pulse.com
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-tip-top-shape
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