Leavenworth

The Leavenworth Winter Sports Club (LWSC) provides several free and affordable events throughout the year to promote healthy and active lifestyles.  Leavenworth’s geographical location provides perfect opportunities for winter recreation ranging from Nordic skiing, downhill skiing and snowboarding to snowshoeing and sledding.

In order to generate more interest and get the community excited about skiing, LWSC has produced a free ski event called Ski For Health Day for the past several years.  This year’s event will be Sunday, Jan. 9 at the Icicle River Nordic Trails next to Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort.  LWSC will provide free ski equipment, lessons and trail passes from noon to 3 p.m. Lessons and equipment for both classic and skate techniques will be available.  Local mountain shops Der Sportsmann, Leavenworth Mountain Sports and Osprey Ski Shop provide equipment and professional fitting.  Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort donates healthy and delicious snacks.  For the second consecutive year, Chelan-Douglas Land Trust will setup an info tent to educate the public about local land conservation and stewardship in the Wenatchee Valley.  In between the 20-minute mini ski lessons you can enjoy stretching at the Snowcreek Yoga Studio tent or learn about avalanche beacons at the demo provided by Northwest Mountain School.  Swix will teach you everything about waxing your skis to increase performance and extending life of your equipment.

The Ski For Health Day keeps growing every year.  LWSC received a record-setting 250 participants during the event in 2010.  With new vendors and activities on the program for 2011, the event should draw a much bigger crowd.

LWSC suggests people show up at the start of the event to make sure they get the equipment they need and to take advantage of all the activities.

Leavenworth Winter Sports Club is a non-profit established in 1928 and manages 26 kilometers of Nordic trails, a tube park and alpine ski area located at base of the operations with the historic Leavenworth Ski Hill Lodge, home to the famed Ski Jump.