News

 
 

Fall 2026 Update

Happy Fall Lake Chelan Nordic Club members!

When Fall begins, we know winter and skiing at Echo Ridge is right around the corner and we are excited about it!

We have several big updates to share with you, so please grab a cuppa and read on.

Lake Chelan Nordic Club (LCNC) Board membership: A few changes to the Board…

President: After 15 years of serving on the Board (most of those as president), Catherine Willard has stepped down. During her time, Catherine elevated our Club website (making it chock-full of the information we all need), created our Facebook and Instagram sites, was an integral player in many Board decisions (including Pups on the Pops), co-authored a successful grant to purchase “Big Red”, our Piston Bully 100 snow cat, and answered many many phone calls and emails from skiers. Catherine will continue to support the club as needed. THANK YOU, Catherine, for more than a decade of dedication to Echo Ridge!

Kari Wier has begun serving as President behind Catherine.

Other Board changes: Pete Wier has stepped off the Board to be Operations Manage (focusing on grooming, trail maintenance, and coordination on road plowing) and Paul Willard has joined the Board (with big strengths in grant writing and coordination with the Forest Service).

Your new Lake Chelan Nordic Board is made up of the following volunteers:

  • President: Kari Wier

  • Treasurer: Dave Hartwig

  • Secretary: Eryn Phelps

  • Board Members at Large: Dalton Dietrich & Paul Willard

Special Use Permit: If you have been following along, you may recall that the US Forest Service asked the Nordic Club to move from an agreement-based operation to a Special Use Permit operation. The reason behind the change is that the Forest Service has lost its ability to reliably reimburse the LCNC for grooming expenses through the agreement process. The Board has been working with the Chelan Ranger District over the last year to move in that direction.

What changes are in store? Under the Special Use Permit, the LCNC as a non-profit club, will have full operational responsibility for the winter operations at Echo Ridge nordic area. This includes activities we have already been doing (like grooming, trail, yurt and equipment maintenance, and condition reporting) and new activities (such as fee collection and toilet maintenance).

  • Benefits: There are benefits to this arrangement. For example, the LCNC will collect and retain user fees, so 100% of those funds will go directly back to winter operations. We will be streamlining ticket sales, including an online option for day use fees in addition to the fee tubes onsite.

  • Challenges with the Special Use Permit include a different liability insurance coverage, managing the fees, toilet maintenance and figuring out the road plowing.

    • Funding: A big challenge is funding the whole enchilada. User fees alone do not cover the expenses of grooming and road plowing. The Forest Service and the LCNC have relied primarily on a grant from the Washington Recreation & Conservation Office. We can (and will) still apply for these funds, but we may not be as competitive as we once were as part of a larger trail grant for the Chelan Ranger District. The Board is in the process of applying for other grants including the NCW Community Foundation and Chelan County Lodging Tax. We will need to be focused on annual fundraising and are accepting donations year-round. Please see the donations bullet below!

    • Road Plowing: We are exploring alternative methods of keeping the road plowed, sanded and open to Echo Ridge as the Forest Service can no longer do so. Stay tuned for more details on that.

  • Fee changes: Pass sales will be 100% through the club and will start November 1st online on our website. Once we are operating under the Special Use Permit, fees will be individual (not a parking pass):

    • Day Use: Adults - $20 ski, $15 snowshoe/fat bike; Kids under 18 -FREE

    • Annual Pass - $150 (includes annual club membership)

    The Special Use Permit is not yet a done deal. But we are planning to be operating under this new set-up for the 2026/27 winter season.

 

Now for the fun stuff and where you can help!

Club Work Days: Come help get the trails ready for the winter season by participating in our annual Echo Ridge Work Day on Sunday, October 25th. Meet at the Upper Parking Lot at 9:00am. If you have tools (loppers, hand saw, pruners) bring those along with gloves, your lunch and be repared for fall weather. Can’t make the Work Party? Watch our Facebook page for other work opportunities from Operations Manager Pete Wier.

Members Party: Our annual LCNC Members Party is tentatively planned for November 10th. Location TBD. Come pick up or purchase your annual pass, make a donation, buy some club merch and hear about what’s in store for this winter. We will send out an email with more details and post on our Facebook page.

Donations: We continue to request donations. The LCNC is a 501c3 non-profit club and you can donate at anytime, using this link: DONATE HERE

Soup Saturdays: By popular demand, we will again be hosting soup at the yurt… on Saturdays (changed from Sundays)! This year, we will be striving to provide soup on every Saturday that we are open. So we need volunteers to make and serve homemade soup at yurt. It’s so fun and a great way to meet new people and share your love of Echo Ridge. To sign up, please email us at info@lakechelannordic.org and we will get you started. We will also have a sign up at the Members Party.

Volunteer Trail Ambassadors: As we move into the new arrangement, we want to provide users with all the info they need. Volunteer Trail Ambassadors will help users pay their daily fee (or show their annual pass), and provide information on good trails to ski or snowshoe. Watch for more details on this opportunity,

The Lake Chelan Nordic Club Board is dedicated to maintaining and improving winter recreation at Echo Ridge and we are working closely with the Forest Service to make that happen. Because the alternative would make us all very sad and we don’t want that!

We will keep you all updated! If you have any questions or ideas, please reach out to us at info@lakechelannordic.org. We will also keep our website updated: www.lakechelannordic.org. And make a reminder to buy your Season Pass starting November 1st!

With visions of snowflakes ,

The Lake Chelan Nordic Club Board (Kari, Dave, Eryn, Dalton & Paul)