Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area

We will be making the final push to the Long John Yurt May 6 & 7. We will be starting at 9 a.m. and ending at about 3 p.m. If you want a ride to the work site, please be on time. (If we have a large enough group, we will make more than one trip.) NOTE: You do not have to start at 9 a.m., just let us know in your comments when you are coming. It is about 2.25 miles to the Peter Pan Trail (our starting point) and 2.5 miles to the Long John Yurt.

We need Sawyers (cutters), Swampers (pull away debris), and Rakers (literally raking the trail). Please sign up for however you feel you can help. Sawyers do need chainsaw experience and safety gear.

Lunch is provided if you stay the day. Everyone gets a T-shirt!

Help rebuild Enchanted Forest

Wednesday, December 15th brought 60-115mph winds to the Red River area. 95% of the Enchanted Forests trails are impassable with downed trees and debris. Whole swathes of forest were flattened, and several buildings are destroyed or damaged. Mike Ritterhouse, our longtime general manager, estimated “200 acres of our permit zone are 98% flattened, another 200 acres are 60% flattened.”

If you would like to contribute to our rebuilding, please visit our GoFundMe page

Thank you so much to those who have already helped!

Special thanks go out to several volunteers who went above and beyond – Ham, Corey, Nort, Andy Lang, Ron and Dina Burnham, Ed Hampton and the many volunteers from Faith Mountain Fellowship, Bill MacDonald, and Richard Holmes among many others. Also, the field leadership provided by our chief snowshoe guide, Shane Clawson and the coordination efforts of longtime staff member Bob Blair have been essential. Many of you know Larry McConnell and he was able to come in the afternoons and early evenings to sharpen and maintain the chainsaws as well as our spirits.

Much of our food was provided at a significant discount and occasional donation from Old Tymers in Red River. Thanks to Carolyn Housley-Baños, Abbi, and all the crew at Old Tymers!

Donations through GoFundMe stand at $28,890 of our $100,000 goal. So far funds have gone toward buying forestry equipment and other supplies, chainsaw repairs, paying a core group of staff during our clearing efforts, buying lunch for volunteers, paying bills (such as our umbrella insurance and workers’ comp insurance, rental gear and other commitments made well before the disaster.) We have also been able to process most refunds for folks who booked in the fall.

As I have asked in each of these updates, please share our donation link — https://gofund.me/2e752ca3 .

If you are interested in other updates or continued information please check out our internet presences at:  https://enchantedforestxc.com/ , https://www.facebook.com/enchantedxc/ , and https://www.youtube.com/user/enchantedforestxc .

If you have any questions or constructive criticism, please contact us via the above-mentioned contact methods.