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For the first time, the National Capital Commission will charge fees for the use of snowshoe trails in Gatineau Park this winter.
Adults will pay $7, students and seniors $5 and a family of five $17 for a daily pass. Season passes are also available at discounted rates until Dec. 15, ranging from $30 for youths 13 to 17 to $125 for a family.
The NCC expects revenues of $60,000 this winter from the new fees, said NCC spokesman Jean Wolff. The money will be used to further improve services for winter trails, he said, adding that NCC budgetary needs were not the “trigger motivation” for the new charges.
The new snowshoe fees are less than half of what the NCC charges cross-country skiers, who have been paying to use Gatineau Park trails for 25 years. The snowshoe trail fees are lower because, unlike cross-country trails, they aren’t groomed, Wolff explained.
Those who buy cross-country ski season passes can use them to access snowshoe trails as well, Wolff said. But snowshoe trail season passes can’t be used on ski trails.
Over the past five years, services offered in Gatineau Parks for snowshoers have increased “exponentially,” Wolff said. Since 2012, the commission has expanded the park’s network of dedicated, marked trails for snowshoeing to 57 kilometres from 15.
“There has been a marked increase in demand (for snowshoeing) and that has justified increasing the network,” Wolff said.
The NCC offers a wide array of services to snowshoers, he said, including snow removal at parking lots, washrooms, patrols, shelters and fire pits, and access to overnight winter camping facilities.
During public consultations prior to the release of the NCC’s outdoor activity plan for Gatineau Park in 2012, members of the public raised the issue of equity in fees among user groups, Wolff said.
“We have reached a point where it makes sense to ask users of the snowshoe trails to contribute toward those services,” he said. No consideration is being given “right now” to any other new fees, he added.
Snowshoe and ski season passes are available online at gatineaupark.gc.ca or at the NCC’s Gatineau Park Visitor Centre at 33 Scott Rd. in Chelsea. Daily passes can be purchased at the visitor centre or in the parking lots at ski and snowshoe trail access points.
Users can also borrow free ski and snowshoe passes from public libraries in Ottawa, Gatineau, Chelsea and the Outaouais.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
Adults will pay $7, students and seniors $5 and a family of five $17 for a daily pass. Season passes are also available at discounted rates until Dec. 15, ranging from $30 for youths 13 to 17 to $125 for a family.
The NCC expects revenues of $60,000 this winter from the new fees, said NCC spokesman Jean Wolff. The money will be used to further improve services for winter trails, he said, adding that NCC budgetary needs were not the “trigger motivation” for the new charges.
The new snowshoe fees are less than half of what the NCC charges cross-country skiers, who have been paying to use Gatineau Park trails for 25 years. The snowshoe trail fees are lower because, unlike cross-country trails, they aren’t groomed, Wolff explained.
Those who buy cross-country ski season passes can use them to access snowshoe trails as well, Wolff said. But snowshoe trail season passes can’t be used on ski trails.
Over the past five years, services offered in Gatineau Parks for snowshoers have increased “exponentially,” Wolff said. Since 2012, the commission has expanded the park’s network of dedicated, marked trails for snowshoeing to 57 kilometres from 15.
“There has been a marked increase in demand (for snowshoeing) and that has justified increasing the network,” Wolff said.
The NCC offers a wide array of services to snowshoers, he said, including snow removal at parking lots, washrooms, patrols, shelters and fire pits, and access to overnight winter camping facilities.
During public consultations prior to the release of the NCC’s outdoor activity plan for Gatineau Park in 2012, members of the public raised the issue of equity in fees among user groups, Wolff said.
“We have reached a point where it makes sense to ask users of the snowshoe trails to contribute toward those services,” he said. No consideration is being given “right now” to any other new fees, he added.
Snowshoe and ski season passes are available online at gatineaupark.gc.ca or at the NCC’s Gatineau Park Visitor Centre at 33 Scott Rd. in Chelsea. Daily passes can be purchased at the visitor centre or in the parking lots at ski and snowshoe trail access points.
Users can also borrow free ski and snowshoe passes from public libraries in Ottawa, Gatineau, Chelsea and the Outaouais.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
