Erik Zalitis and Laurie McCrory, with son Nylan. Photo by Dan Davidson

A Groomed Trail Has Made a Big Difference

by Dan Davidson

As the third troop of snowmobilers got ready to leave Tok, Alaska, for the final weekend of the Trek Over the Top one thing they could be pretty sure of was that the trail was in good shape. The weather has been variable this year, and group one may have had the nicest travelling, while group two certainly would have found last Sunday’s (March 7) Arctic winds a challenge. But the trail has been in good shape, thanks to the new groomer owned and operated by the Dawson Snow Trails Association.

Eric Zalitis and Laurie McCrory agree that this machine has made a real difference in the trip for their clients.

“The groomer was up on the highway,” Eric said. “They did the highway for us and 60 Mile Road. The Americans always groom to the border. So there was just a 17 mile stretch that was ungroomed.

“It made a huge impact on their attitudes when they arrived here.”

A lot of years the riders have been exhausted after the trip and just wanted to soak in a tub and go to bed.

“They weren’t banged up and they weren’t tired. They got here a lot happier.” As a result they were out doing the town and sitting in Gerties that night. From a business point of view, the more time the Trekkers are in the stores the better.

As the Trek finishes its eleventh year, the couple have recognized that quite a bit of their annual business is repeat travellers, and that these folks are not as interested in an extreme adventure tour as they might have been when they started.

The Trek actually ran a week later this year due to a change in the times for the Yukon Quest, but that worked out well as the weather had warmed up considerably. Last year the first and final Treks travelled at -40°C.

One of Zalitis early morning activities the first day in Dawson is a ride up to the top of the Midnight Dome. This year a record number of riders, 80 in all, took part in this during the first trek.

“That’s a record,” he says. “They were all happy so they just wanted to go for a ride.”

The groomer has done more than benefit the Trek. During the Yukon Quest it was used to make a landing strip for planes on the Yukon River, and it has already been used on the Moose Mountain Ski Hill as well as other trails around the town.

Activities for the Trekkers in included weekends at Gerties, with a floor show and gambling, performances by the Whitehorse based Snowshoe Shufflers, a poker run, the use of the Top of the World Curling Club and lots of skidooing around the Dawson area.

One of the favorite events at Gerties was the brainchild of casino employee and snowmobile enthusiast Bill Holmes. The Snowmobile Olympics is a women’s event at Gerties in which contestants have to change a belt on each of the most common makes of snow machines.

The popularity of the groomer was shown in the auction the Dawson Snow Trials Association held to raise money to help pay off the cost of the machine, which was largely financed through a CDF grant.

Zalitis says it’s not just Alaskans coming over, that there were seven or eight states represented from the lower forty-eight as well.

“One fellow is from Alaska and he has three sons. He’s had four wives and two of his sons had never met before. This was their big reunion trip. They came from New Mexico and Washington State to be with the other son and the father. Next year his daughter will be 19 and she’s coming over.”

It’s turning out that the Trek is multi-generational experience. Families bring their adult children and then the kids invite their friends and it grows.

“This time we had a guy who’s been on all 11,” Laurie said

The first trip was the biggest this year. There were 232 registered and 212 that actually made the trip after scratches. There were 199 registered for the second run and 160 for the third. Registration for the third run has always been lower, McCrory said, because people figure the trail will be pretty beaten up by then.

“Once we can promote that we have a groomed trail on this side that will change hopefully.”

As it is the trekkers have filled up two hotels and several bed and breakfast places at a time of the year when things are slow.

The couple are finding the pace of the Trek much easier this year now that they live in Dawson. Zalitis has recently retired from the RCMP and they have moved to Dawson. He was posted here when he started the event with former fire chief Pat Cayen, and has continued to run it from Whitehorse and Carmacks since then. McCrory says its wonderful to home to her own bed each night, even though she does miss the hotel housekeeping service.

The couple have put their organizational talents to use in other ways as well since returning, having been hired to coordinate this year’s Gold Show for the Chamber of Commerce.

Dawson’s Town Manager Headed For Cultis Lake

by Dan Davidson

Scott Coulson and his family are pulling up stakes and heading for the lower B.C. mainland.

Dawson’s town manager has been hired at Cultis Lake, a small community near Chilliwack.

“It’s a community of 1,000 people just within a park boundary. I’m going to be the park manager and (the town’s) CAO.

“It’s a federal park that gets about a million visitors a year. It’s a pretty spectacular place.”

Scott Coulson and his family are leaving Dawson after three years as the town’s manager. Photo by Dan Davidson

The job will, he thinks, be somewhat less stressful than the last three years in Dawson, and it will take his wife and two children closer to other family members.

Dawson’s current chief administrative officer gave his notice on Wednesday, the day after town council was able to reveal that it had not lost its arbitration case with TSL contracting, thus not triggering the dissolution of the council which had been threatened by the YTG since last fall.

Mayor Glen Everitt was unable to say much without the consent of Don Smith, the head of TSL, but Coulson was less guarded on the subject when discussing his departure on Thursday.

“It’s a good news story,” he said, “and I really believe that it’s going to get better and better. With the arbitration news out, it’s turning around now.”

Nevertheless, the last few months of strain have been tough, and it was the arrival of government appointed supervisor André Carrel on the scene that made Coulson first think about leaving.

He says that he knew things were going to be a little tense when he took the job, but the level of supervision under the first municipal supervisor, Ken Hodgins, was no strain at all. Two and half years of monitoring and helpful suggestions didn’t feel like interference. That all changed when Hodgins was fired in October 2003 and replaced by Carrel, who, as recently as last week, attempted to micromanage council decisions on both its waste hauling and snow removal contracts.

“He was going beyond his mandate,” Coulson said. When it became clear to him that Carrel was eager to sack the council and gut the town’s administrative offices he and his wife decided it was time to start looking at their options.

Carrel had suggested in the last fall’s testy negotiations that Coulson’s hours should be trimmed to half-time. Coulson did acquiesce to the same cuts in travel allowance benefits that the Carrel Report placed on all other staff members, even though he did not have to under the terms of his contract. At the time, he said he couldn’t force others to take that hit without taking it himself.

“We’re sad to leave. It’s been our hardest decision yet, throughout my whole career.”

Coulson will be on board until April 15. Working on behalf of the town, he has already contacted a “headhunter” (an executive search agent) to help council find a replacement.

“It’s a little odd,” he conceded, “but I just wanted to make sure that they got going on it quick.”

On the future of Dawson, he is quite positive.

“I think the tides have turned here. I really believe that it’s going to get better and better.”

This makes him feel better about planning to leave because he doesn’t want anyone to think that he’s bailing out on a losing situation. He see this departure as going out on a high note.

“We actually flipped on this three or four times, and what helped me make up my mind is the arbitration. It’s not like anyone could say I was leaving because of that. It was never meant to be seen that way.”

Another thing that makes him feel better about going is that Carrel’s remuneration contract with YTG has not been renewed and there are strong indications that he will soon be off the Dawson file completely.

Councillor Bill Holmes said that Coulson informed him of his decision personally on Wednesday.

“We certainly have no problems with Scott,” Holmes said. “I’m sorry to see him go.”

Holmes said Dawson’s CAO has given the town his all during his tenure and has been a big part of the successes which were achieved in the arbitration and in many other matters.