Forbush Corner widens trail for new groomer

Sun, Dec  22, 2013 - By Mike Muha

Dave Fobush and team at Forbush Corner have made a number of improvements for this cross county ski season.

First, Forbush Corner added another groomer, a Pisten Bully 200 (PB 200). The machine is in excellent shape BUT 16 feet wide. This required a major project to widen trails. Over $5,000 in bulldozing was been spent widening the East Trail System, which includes Rollercoaster, Badlands, Lil Coaster, Pancake, & Flatlands. Forbush says, "Thanks to all the volunteers that have helped with this major widening project...The trails are already 14 feet at the narrowest but it took an amazing amount of work to add the 2 extra feet."

A fantastic groups of volunteers also removed rocks from the trail. Now just the normal rocks that work their way to the surface will be found. Grass seed has been put down, although it won't germinate until spring.

The warming area had been "overhauled" with new paint on walls and deck. Lots of hooks were added to the bathroom and there is a new outside door. A few more windows were replaced in the ski shop. The West and South side of the ski shop has been painted amd and the ski rack rebuilt.

The West Trails will be the same width as last year which is still really nice. Hopefully we will be able to get to the trails on leased State land next year.

The lightweight grooming plate was mounted on the old Bombardier. It has been an amazing rig. Forbush believes he can set tracks in lighter snow than they can with snowmobiles. "Still," says Forbush, "it is always a joy when we can switch to the Pisten Bullys and create tracks and a skate trail that are second to none. Lots nicer for the operators also."

As many friends know, Dave has been battling pancreatic cancer. Says Dave in his latest update,

The brilliance of my oncologist has the pancreatic tumor shrunk even smaller as revealed on the last CT Scan. He is a most amazing guy who has skied here in the past and will return again this season. Monday begins a radiation program. 5 days a week for 5 weeks. None of this is curative but it can give a good quality of life. New drugs keep coming on the market all the time and so when it grows back, we will have more choices. If you would like to add your name to the cancer update list, contact Mario Kennedy: [email protected]

Forbush Corner will be hosting a Michigan Cup race, the Forbush Corner 17km Freestyle, on February 15, 2014