history of pincushion/North Superior Ski and Run Club

Founding and Early History
The North Superior Ski and Run Club (NSSRC, re-named Pincushion Ski and Run Club in 2023) originated in the spring of 1979 when Dick Swanson invited a few of the more enthusiastic local cross country skiers to his office with the goal of determining if there was enough interest in x-c skiing and running to establish a club. Those first attendees were Dick Swanson, Jan Horak, Jerry Jackson, Keith Morris and David Hilfiker. Within a couple months of this first meeting, the NSSRC club was established with bylaws and a board of directors.

The first ski race at Pincushion happened in the winter of 1979 using the pre-existing dog sled trail as a race course. This trail was very primitive, being only four to five feet wide with no bridges or other trail improvement. The mass start of around 12 people took place on the old dump road just past the parking lot that exists today. At that time, the parking area was just a wide spot in the gravel overlook road.

After trail improvements that summer, the 1980 race called the Grand Tour, 10K and 15K, started on the ISD166 high school athletic field, then climbed the hill on a newly cut trail to the Pincushion trail system. Here the race followed a large loop consisting of part of the advanced trail we have today and most of the intermediate trail which passes Pincushion Mountain before returning down the hill to finish at the school athletic field.

In the 1980’s, we also had high level USSA races at Pincushion with top skiers from around the Midwest. Some of those skiers went on to qualify for either the U.S. or Canadian Olympic teams during this time period. The Sawtooth ski race at Pincushion was also part of a friendly rivalry between Cook County and Thunder Bay skiers, with an “International Cup” awarded to either side depending on race finishes. That trophy remains on display in the chalet today.

Running races in addition to our skiing events were also a big part of the NSSRC club in the 1980’s. The club sponsored the Gunflint 50, which was a 50-mile race starting at Seagull Lake and ending in Grand Marais. The Hovland International, a 5-mile race using the Camp 20 road in Hovland was one of the more popular races. The Fisherman’s Picnic Race was also initiated during this time period in 1986. Jerry Jackson was the behind-the-scenes organizer of many of these events. Another race the club helped initiate was the Tofte Trek founded by Jan Horak.

The first Pincushion trail groomers were David Hilfiker and Keith Morris, using an underpowered, cheap, used Polaris single track snowmobile. It took two people to accomplish the grooming, since there was a lot of shoveling to make snow-bridges over the un-bridged creek crossings and to push the machine up most of the steeper hills. The finished ski tracks at that time resembled two parallel ruts in the snow rather than the well-formed, hard sided tracks one can see today.

The 1980’s also saw the establishment of two new businesses adjacent to Pincushion, the Devil Track Nordic Ski Shop (owned by Dave Bartol) and the Pincushion B&B.  The Pincushion B&B was built by Scott and Mary Beattie in 1986.  Lynn Parish acquired the lodge in 2010 and was active until her tragic early death in 2013.  Bob & Marlys renovated and operated the B&B into the “Covid era” of 2020.  Since 2021 Paul and Jess Anderson have been active owners and proprietors.

1990’s History
This period saw the emergence of club-sponsored youth sports programs. The club took over the K-6 ski instruction program from the old Bill Koch program and relaunched the program as “Y-Ski.” The club also supported the high school Nordic Ski program including hosting the annual Cook County Invitational Ski Meet. The high school Nordic Ski team was funded by ISD166 during this period. In 1999 ISD166 launched a high school cross country running team. The team was funded by ISD166 with support from the club, including hosting two races each fall at Pincushion. Chris Hegg became President of the club during this period and played an instrumental role in these youth programs including coaching the cross country team for many years.

The club launched a successful capital campaign beginning in 1996, led by Mark Summers. A total of $120,000 in grant funding was received from the Federal Recreational Trails Program, from IRRRB and from Cook County. These funds were used to build the Pincushion chalet and equipment garage and to purchase a used 1988 Pisten Bully groomer to improve ski trail grooming. The chalet construction was led by Keith Morris and Larry Krause, with lots of volunteer support.

2000’s History
This period saw more changes in the club-supported youth sports programs. In 2002 ISD166 dropped the Nordic Ski team due to low participation rates. The NSSRC picked up primary funding responsibility for the team with the school providing transportation support. In 2004 ISD166 launched a track program, building upon the positive momentum of the cross country running program. Chris Hegg served as volunteer coach and driver for both the track team and the cross country running team in addition to continuing to serve the NSSRC as President and Treasurer. The Y-Ski program continued to grow and flourish during this period. A grant for $7500 was received in 2006 to purchase equipment for the program and the program.

2010’s History
Following a period of decline in maintenance of the Pincushion trails over several years, Jim Shinners took over responsibility for trail and equipment maintenance in 2014 and over the subsequent several years invested a great deal of time and energy, with support from a cadre of club volunteers, to bring the trails back to top-notch condition. This involved a wide range of repairs and improvements including brushing and clearing, erosion repair, bridge repair and more. Jim continued to lead this work until he stepped down in 2023. Jim was also the head groomer and the head of equipment maintenance during this period.

The Nordic ski team had challenges of low participation rates for several years but began a turnaround in 2017 when the team formed a cooperative partnership with Two Harbors (similar to the cross country running program) and Dave and Becky Bartol took over as Head Coaches for the program.

There was also a change in club leadership: Chris O’Brien became President in 2018 and Chris Hegg retired from the Board after serving as President for 20 years.

The club received approximately $50,000 in grants from the Federal Recreational Trail Program and from IRRRB in 2018 and 2019 to purchase new trail grooming equipment including a John Deere Gator, an Arctic Cat Bearcat snowmobile and a new Ginzu grooming implement.

Tina Hegg took over as Director of the Youth Ski Program (Y-Ski) in 2019 and continued in that role until 2022.  Prior Y-Ski Program Directors included Mike Crook, Amy and Peter Henrikson and many others dating back to Tina’s days skiing in the Bill Koch league program at Pincushion 20+ years ago.  This youth ski program at Pincushion is one of the largest and longest running programs for kids sports in Cook County and has depended on an army of volunteers over the years as instructors, organizers, snack providers, etc.

2020 to Present
The club has flourished over the past several years. Annual revenues from memberships and sponsorships have more than doubled since 2020 and have enabled the club to invest more in the youth sports programs and community programs and events at Pincushion. The club has significantly improved its public communications with regular trail grooming reports and club newsletters sent to an email distribution list of over 220 subscribers.

In addition to the funds received from members and sponsors the club has received grants from a number of organizations including IRRRB, Arrowhead Coop, Lloyd K Johnson Foundation, North Star Foundation and Legacy Foundation for a range of projects including new equipment and uniforms for the Nordic Ski Team and the youth instruction program and extensive regrading and erosion control measures for the ski trails. The US Forest Service has also made significant improvements by replacing aging bridges on the Pincushion trails.

In 2023 the club launched a capital campaign to purchase a newer Pisten Bully groomer to replace the 1988 model that was failing after 20+ years of service at Pincushion. The capital campaign was remarkably successful, raising over $200,000 from individual donors, from grants from the IRRRB and LLoyd K Johnson Foundation and from club savings. We purchased a 2015 model Pisten Bully and it was delivered in the fall of 2023.

Jeanne Wright joined the Nordic Ski Team as Head Coach in 2021 after Dave and Becky Bartol stepped down. Angie Robinson and Mike Crook have been supporting Jeanne as Assistant Coaches. Participation and enthusiasm have increased each year, with approximately 20 kids participating this past season. The coop with Two Harbors was disbanded in 2023 so the team is now operating as the Cook County Nordic Ski Team.

The Y-Ski program has also seen some significant changes in the past few years. Tina Hegg-Raway stepped down from her role as Program Director in 2022 and in the following season the club decided to join the state-wide Minnesota Youth Ski League (MYSL) program and to rebrand our Pincushion local program as Ski Sparks. The MYSL partnership provides us with great new resources for the program including well-designed lesson plans for the coaches, screening criteria for different skiing ability categories, high quality rental equipment and more. A group of three parents (Sam Usem, Lynnea Morse, and Anne Mundell) have taken over leadership of the Ski Sparks program and participation has been as strong as ever, with approximately 50 kids enrolled in lessons.

The past several years have also seen a big increase in the number of public events and programs at Pincushion, part of the club’s strategy to build a strong and healthy recreational community around the Pincushion trails. In addition to continuing our traditional events like the Fisherman’s Picnic Trail Race and the Pincushion Winter Festival Ski Race, the club has launched many new educational and social events including skiing and ski-waxing clinics, monthly full-moon ski and bonfire gatherings, weekly ping-pong at the chalet and more.

Grooming of the Pincushion ski trails is better than ever and will be even better now that we have a newer Pisten Bully groomer. The club also keeps the Pincushion trails mowed for walkers and runners all summer long. Bill Hansen joined the club as Head Groomer in 2022 and Mike Kimball has been responsible for mowing the trails during the summer for many years.

A sad milestone for the club was the passing of Dick Swanson in 2023. In addition to being the first president of the club, Dick served on the Board for 35 years until 2015 and poured his abundant energy and enthusiasm into the club’s activities throughout that period. We are indebted to him and the other club founders for their vision and initiative and we’re inspired to maintain and further build upon that vision of creating a great year-round recreational resource at Pincushion and to build a thriving and healthy recreational community around the Pincushion trails.

Finally, the Board decided in 2023 to re-name the club the Pincushion Ski and Run Club to more accurately reflect the focus of the club’s activities. In conjunction with this name-change the club launched a new website www.pincushionskiandrun.org to further improve our public communications about conditions, programs and events at Pincushion.

2024 Pincushion Ski and Run Club Board and Leadership
Chris O’Brien, Board President
Dave Bartol, Board Vice President and Trail Maintenance Director
Kate Walters, Board Treasurer
Tim Lederle, Board Secretary
Mona Hunter, At Large Board Member, Membership Director
Brienne Moody, At Large Board Member, Race Director
Scott Gisalson, At Large Board Member
Jane Asay, At Large Board Member
Jeanne Wright, Head Coach, Nordic Ski Team
Sam Usem, Lynnea Morse, Anne Mundell, Leadership Team, Ski Sparks
Bill Hanson, Head Groomer
Ken Walters, Head of Equipment and Facility Maintenance
Mike Kimball, Head of Summer Trail Maintenance