The Whaleback Nordic Ski Club started out originally as the Stephenville Ski Club in 1968 (circa). The Stephenville Ski Club was mainly involved in downhill skiing and operated a lodge near Maryland Drive. Percey Pieroway, Doug Fowlow, John Maddock, and Arthur and Shirley Germani were some of the original organizers of the club.

The old ski lodge was very comfortable with a fireplace, canteen and large open area, however it was costly to maintain and heat. With the development of Marble Mountain, many skiers began to make regular trips to Corner Brook to ski on the weekends. The high cost of maintaining the downhill operation on Maryland Drive soon became prohibitive and the run was closed. In the mid-seventies, cross country skiing became very popular. The club began to develop cross country trails throughout the Bay St. George region.

Percey Pieroway, was instrumental in applying for several government-funded projects and by 1977 a number of interconnected trails had been developed. Following the signed trail system, skiers could weave their way from Romaines River to Dhoon Lodge in Black Duck Siding, a distance of approximately 35 km.

In 1978, the need for facilities to host various competitive events was realized. The trail system at Cold Brook was started from an abandoned logging trail.

Below is a series of articles that was originally published in the weekly column "View from the Whaleback", The Georgian. They describe the development of the club from 1977 to present day.

From a Seed ...
by Graham Oliver
Feb 1, 2000

In 1977 Cliff Matthews was employed by the Newfoundland and Labrador Cross Country Ski Association as provincial coach and technical director. Cliff toured the province visiting schools and ski clubs in an effort to promote skiing. When Cliff visited a community, it was the responsibility of the local club to provide accommodations. Having no children and being new kids on the block, the Oliver-Robertson team were duly appointed to open their hospitable doors.

Little did I know, that Cliff was going to be responsible for planting the seed for the development of our ski park. One evening, over dinner and a bottle of fine red wine, Cliff pontificated on the merits of skiing in Newfoundland. He had just returned from Norway and he felt that our terrain was very similar. In addition to our challanging terrain, Cliff praised our bountiful snow and talked of our long winter season. But he also queried, "Why aren't there any cross country ski trails in Newfoundland?" As Cliff put it, "Stephenville is a fantastic place to develop ski trails, but everyone seems to be content with skiing on logging roads".

At the time, the Stephenville Ski Club did have a network of outback trails on the Whaleback and in the Black Duck area, however we did not have a confined ski area featuring trails of varying lengths and degrees of difficulty. Cliff's evangelical message, which was repeated many times during his one-week stay, opened my eyes to a entirely new concept in skiing. I, along with a clutch of fellow skiers, soon began preaching the gospel according to Cliff, which was the impetus to the development of one of Eastern Canada's premium ski parks.

To this day, Doug Fowlow does not realize the key role he played in developing the Cold Brook system. Doug was the informal chief of race for the 1978 Stephenville Ski Club Championships. The organizational meeting for the event was held 30 minutes before the start. Percy Pieroway, Bruce Innis, Arthur Germani, yours truly and Doug all stood at the entrance to the narrow trail near Linda Kendall's and tried to determine how we could run a 5 km race on an ungroomed, 2.4 km stretch of abandoned trail.

Doug, being confident and naively optimistic, saw no problem in hosting the event. After all, he had his trusty blue Chaperalle snowmobile of rather dubious mechanical appointment, and he would merely dash in and break the trail. Meanwhile, Bruce Innis would shout "GO!" a moment or so after Doug's departure. Skiers would be spaced out at 30 second intervals and everything would run, "more or less", without a hitch.

Unfortunately, two unforseen factors seemed to, "more or less", impede the progess of the thirty or so boys and girls who answered the starting gun that day. At the 2 km mark, Doug's untrusty Chaperalle took an unpresedented nap. Rocky Boland, a four time winner of the Newfoundland Marathon, was the first skier out on the trail. He soon caught up with Doug, who was blocking the one metre wide trail as he vigorously pulled on the start cord. Rocky nimbly sidestepped Doug, proceeded to the base of the saddleback, turned around and began to retrace his tracks to the finish. Because there was only one set of tracks on the two-way trail, skiers going out had to politely give way to fellow competitors who were scampering back to the finish. Some confusion was alleviated by the fact that Doug was broken down at about the 1 km mark and he judiciously acted as a traffic director.

In the post-race debriefing that day, I distinctly remember Doug unequivocally stating, "Boys we gotta have a better setup than this if we're going to run races." All in attendance nodded to the affirmative.

Trail Development Commences
The Cold Brook Trail
by Graham Oliver
Feb 8, 2000

The Cold Brook trail has long been a favorite destination for local skiers. Although the trail was originally very narrow and trail grooming was a natural process effected by a hearty fellow skier slogging through the snow ahead of you, people loved to congregate there in the evenings and on the weekends.

In 1981, I represented the Stephenville Ski Club at the provincial association meeting in Gander. Little did I know that Jamie Graham, the Godfather of cross country skiing in Newfoundland, had big plans for skiing in Stephenville. Jamie made a motion, against my vigorous protestations, that Stephenville host the 1982 provincial championships. I vehemently contended that we could not host an event of this magnitude because we did not have a trail and furthermore, Doug Fowlow's untrusty blue Chaparrelle had gone into a terminal comma, so we therefore did not have a groomer. My protestations fell on deaf ears - motion carried, the 1982 provincials were set for Stephenville. The only amendment made to the motion was that Stephenville also host the 1983 marathon. Stephenville Ski Club had its work cut out.

Work on the Cold Brook trail system started in earnest in the spring of 1981. A group of five or six of the club faithful made regular trips out to Cold Brook to cut a 2.5 km loop.

Skating had not been invented so we quickly achieve a state-of-the-art, two metre wide trail. Arthur Germani refurbished his homemade wooden track setter, Percy Pieroway donated the use of his SkiDoo Elan for grooming, a few signs were put up and we were ready for the races. A total of 160 skiers participated in the provincials. A few skiers succumbed to dizzy spells as a result of doing multiple laps of our 2.5 km Jackrabbit Run trail. Otherwise the event was an astounding success. Can you imagine doing six laps of a 2.5 km loop to complete the 15 km men's senior race? Official's had to be very keen.

The upgrading of the trail for the provincials was a major boost for the Stephenville Ski Club. Now skiers could come out to Cold Brook and ski a loop; no more meeting skiers on an in- and-out trail. Once the provincials were finished in January, we continued to groom the trail on weekends and suddenly people became addicted to set-tracks. Skiers would show up at the trailhead and ask skiers coming off the trail, "Is the track set today?"

Membership for the Stephenville Ski Club at the time was $15.00 per family for the year. Total membership was approximately 50 recreational souls hooked into three pin bindings.

Skiers using the Cold Brook trail did not have to be members and the general public had a rather dim view of paying to ski on a trail. On one occasion we tried putting a collection can at the start of the trail with a sign asking for donations to help buy gas for the snowmobile. One day I recall cars lining both sides of the Cold Brook Road and the grand revenue total in the donation can at the end of the day was $2.50. Being an apostle of Doug Fowlow, I remember saying to my fellow executive members; "Boys if we're going to operate a trail system, we're going to have to be better organized than this."

In 1983 we completed the 5 km Rendez Vous trail. The legacy of hosting the provincials in '82 and the marathon in '83 generated a great deal of interest in skiing in the entire Bay St. George region and the newly formed Whaleback Nordic Ski Club became very serious about leasing land from Bowaters, trail development, and demanding that skiers using the trail pay their membership. Membership fees increased, grooming machines were purchased and membership skyrocketed to over 300 as baby boomers demanded that little Sally and Johnnie become members of the newly formed Jackrabbit Ski Program.

But we still didn't have a building and where were skiers to park?

The Development of Whaleback Nordic Ski Park
Moving Across the Road
by Graham Oliver
Feb 15, 2000

By 1985 the ski trails at Cold Brook were well established and membership in Whaleback Nordic was increasing annually. While there was no shortage of interest in skiing, the facilities to accommodate skiers were woefully inadequate. The club had no shelter from the elements, no washroom facilities and no place to park.

In 1986, through the generosity of Fred Carson at Western Construction, we were able to acquire a tiny construction tool shack measuring 8' X 10'. This humble little toasty hut served as the rallying point for bigger and better things. Suddenly, Jackrabbit leaders realized that a larger structure was absolutely essential if we were going to run a Jackrabbit program. And how could we run races without a building for officials? Through projects and revenue from membership, we were able to build a new chalet, but the permit stipulated that it had to be "temporary" and located on the south side of the Hansen Highway. Skiers still had to cross the very busy Hansen Highway to access the trails.

The newly-constructed chalet.

After a few years of stating our problem, the town finally recognized our dilemma and granted the club approval to locate the chalet on the north side of the highway where it presently stands. With the help of the Heavy Equipment School a large parking lot was built next to the chalet, washrooms were installed and Whaleback Nordic glided briskly into the twentieth century. Under the capable guidance of president Bruce Le Grow, his first field engineer Hubert Hynes and chief Don Cormier, the club continued to expand. In order to host marathons within the ski park, additional trails were added to the trail system so that the entire 42 km marathon could be held within the confines of the ski park.

In 1991 the club engaged, in without question, the largest project in its history - the installation of lights on the 2.5 km Fox Trot trail. With lighted trails, skiers now had the option of skiing seven evenings a week until 10:00 p.m. Skiers no longer had to rush out to the ski trails after work to squeeze in a ski before dark, the lighted trail afforded them the opportunity to do it on their own schedule.

Through the nineties, Whaleback has continued to pursue the development of quality trails and facilities for the benefit of members and the skiing public. This year the club made another giant step forward with the acquisition of two new state-of-the-art trail groomers. The groomed trails at Whaleback are now second to none. We have trails for beginners, experts and intrepids, ranging in length from 1 km to 13.4 km.

Throughout the club's development I have had the good fortune to work with many diligent volunteers who have given countless hours so that others could benefit. Some of these members have relocated to other areas, others have deservedly taken a back seat after being relieved of their tour of duty, however there is one person who has remained in office since the inception of the club. Percy Pierway has served in the position of club treasurer for approximately 35 years. Vigilantly controlling the club's purse strings, Percy has provided the club with the long term stability that was required for it to attain its present prosperity.

Percy Pieroway, March 4, 2001

So, as we move on and proceed enthusiastically into the new millennium, I hear there is a 1 km dome-covered ski trail in Finland which operates 12 months a year. . . .

View from the Whaleback                    March 18, 2008

After successfully hosting and competing in the Canadian Masters in 2005, Bruce stepped down as president of both CCNL and Whaleback Nordic. Although he is still president of the NL Masters Association and also holds a position with Cross Country Canada, for the most part he is taking a well deserved rest from organizing at the local level. It is because of Bruce Le Grow’s leadership and vision that Whaleback Nordic has become one of the premium cross country ski parks in Eastern Canada. The members and friends of Whaleback certainly appreciate the enormous legacy that was left in his wake.