Rundle mountain. A photo from the archives
“I’m hopeful that your remarkable example will inspire some others to pick up the torch to ensure that something similar will continue on.” -Alf Skrastins
Many readers have said something similar, concerned with not having a site like this one.
Feb 10 at West Bragg Creek: “We have started re-tracksetting since the dusting of snow yesterday, and expect to have the whole trail system re done by the weekend.”
I don’t think you will have to worry about it. I’ve had a number of inquiries, and that’s just the people who are asking me questions. There are probably others who are interested, too.
My suggestion to any successor, would be to make the Trip Reports a more prominent feature, or maybe even the home page. I don’t know if it’s possible, but having readers being able to directly upload photos with their reports would be a bonus. Of course, it’s possible now as we see with Chuck, Alf, Steve and a few others but it is somewhat inconvenient.
For the record, I will not be “selling” this site or the domain name. What I will do, is post a link on my blog this fall to anyone who starts a new blog, as long as it’s not on Facebook. We already have a good Facebook site, Cross Country Skiing YYC, and many of my readers aren’t on Facebook.
I realize a lot of people are not enamoured with Facebook and I’ve even had emails concerned about it.
With my CBC interview this morning, I thought I was finished dealing with the media. Not so fast! A couple hours later, CBC contacted me about doing a web story. It touches on a few things which weren’t discussed in the interview.
My sister in Manitoba heard my CBC interview and talked with me later. She said I was a good fit for this job because of my attention to detail(aka micro-manager) and my enjoyment of working alone(aka not working well with others). 
What am I going to do with my extra time? I think I’ll spend the extra three or four hours a day reading and re-reading all the flattering comments which you’ve submitted on the “End of the Trail” post, as I sit in my rocking chair.
A couple possibilities would include:
1. Nordic Alberta’s website (would require modifications to have SkierBob functionality)
2. Creating a subreddit on Reddit for Alberta xc skiing
3. Discord
Hi Bob,
I concur with your comments regarding the utmost importance of trip reports, on a personal note, the groomers reports are equally important as they provide first hand information and usually before the « official » website.
Regarding the grooming as Skitrails.info seems to only work for Kananaskis Village greater area trails, I have noticed that WBC uses Nordic Pulse to provide a similar colour coded map. What do you think to « push » this option to other ski areas?
I’m still having a hard time accepting the new reality that this blog will not be available next season.
If someone is going to design a new blog, a few suggestions come to mind:
1) Anyone wanting to post should be required to create an account including a unique UserName linked to their email. This would eliminate the confusion when two people use the same name, knowingly or unknowingly!
2) The ‘Search’ function should be allowed to work on contributed Trip Reports. At the moment the ‘Search’ function only works on the Home Page. The Administrator(s) can’t be expected to ski everywhere! Year’s ago our reports did go directly to the Home Page, but that became unmanageable. Users often want to check out the recent reports for a particular trail (or by a particular reporter), so this would facilitate their search.
I agree with #1 & 2. In the meantime with respect to #2, you can use Google to search for whatever you want, and restrict the search to the SkierBob website by appending ” site:skierbob.ca” to your search string. e.g. Google “Tyrwhitt site:skierbob.ca” to find SkierBob pages that include “Tyrwhitt”. You can then filter those results using the Settings, Tools, Any Time, and All Results menu/drop-down items near the top of the search results screen. It will even correct your spelling if you type “Tyrwitt”, and will find pages in which “Tyrwhitt” is misspelled as “Tyrwitt”. Unfortunately, it won’t find the few results where posters insist on only using acronyms or abbreviations such as “TYR”.
You’re hired!
Some other hopes: 1) an open and inclusive platform (not exclusive, such as membership login) to maximize participation given the primary purpose of sharing conditions info (with email verifications to keep it respectful and manageable): 2) not-for profit with limited advertising and other product based stuff (not the focus, and user info not the product either), and: 3) if the above are achieved, should replicate the community aspect of it all. Thank you!