Three people have been charged with trespassing after a Christmas Eve joyride ended up causing hundreds of dollars worth of damage to a ski trail in Hiawatha Highlands — and leaving two cars and a piece of heavy equipment stuck in the snow as a result.
Soo Finnish Nordic Ski Club president Amy Wheeler Reich told SooToday the damaged portion of Pinder Trail was fully restored by Boxing Day, after the groomer operator for the 50-kilometre trail system ditched out on Christmas dinner in order to carry out the necessary repairs.
The president of the non-profit ski club described the incident as a "joyriding thing" involving three post-secondary students.
“The first car got stuck, they called a friend. The second car came out, then they got stuck. Then, they called in help from someone who had a loader, and they thought they were going to get this car out with a loader and it would all sort of be finished,” she explained. “But unfortunately, the temperature was rising, and the snow was getting softer — and they just sunk in right away.”
The three individuals involved were still at the scene on the morning of Dec. 25 when Hiawatha Highlands staff arrived. Board members for the ski club were also present on Christmas Day to ensure the ski club received “some payment out of these people so we could fix up the trail,” according to Wheeler Reich.
A fine of $1,000 imposed by the ski club — which covered the costs of the groomer operator and use of a new PistenBully snow groomer to repair the trail and pull one of the vehicles involved off of it — was eventually paid in full.
“We don’t want to name names, we don’t want to call people out,” said Wheeler Reich. “Some kids made a mistake. It ended up being quite a big public thing. But I think as a parent, my kids have made mistakes too.”
“They apologized, they felt terrible. In the end nobody was hurt, thank goodness.”
Wheeler Reich said vehicles accessing the trail system at Hiawatha Highlands — which is a division of the non-profit ski club — is a yearly occurrence as well as a costly one. “There are so many places where vehicles can get onto the trails, and it is really unfortunate that it happens,” she said.
Although the identities of the joyriders are not being disclosed by the ski club, SooToday confirmed the first motorist to get stuck on the Pinder Trail on Christmas Eve is an employee of Rainone Services, a local contractor specializing in various forms of construction.
“He got his car stuck first, and then thought he was going to go and pull it out with one of my pieces of equipment — but wasn’t that successful, I guess,” said manager Mark Rainone, who said his Christmas Day was disrupted by having to go out to the ski trail in order to free his company’s front-end loader and one of the vehicles involved. “Not impressed, but it happens, I guess — sh-- happens.”
Asked by SooToday if his employee will be terminated as a result of this high-profile incident, Rainone stressed that the three individuals involved didn’t “go in there with any intent of doing any damage.”
“The guy made a mistake, you know? It was dark out — he thought it was a little roadway and went down it,” he said.
Sault Ste. Marie Police Service has yet to respond to a request for details made by SooToday Friday.