With winter — and, by extension, ski season — fast approaching, volunteers at Turner Mountain Ski Area are hoping to raise enough money to secure a new groomer.

Bruce Zwang, president of the Kootenai Winter Sports Ski Education Foundation, said age has taken a toll on the organization’s existing two groomers. The large, tracked vehicles play a vital role in making the mountain, any mountain, accessible to beginner and intermediate skiers, he said.

“Probably nationwide, 80 percent of skiers are at the intermediate or beginner level and that level of skier really needs or enjoys groomed slopes,” Zwang said. “Most of our skiers ski the groomed [slopes]; they like the groom.”

For many of Turner’s older skiers, groomed slopes also prove a boon, allowing them to stay in the sport longer, he said.

Experienced skiers looking for first tracks need not worry. Only about 30 percent of Turner is groomed at any given time, Zwang said.

Groomer operators, all volunteers, work eight hour shifts ahead of each day of skiing on the mountain. They start in the early morning hours, Zwang said, often running two machines simultaneously to get the job done.

The campaign to raise money for a new groomer began about a month ago. Zwang recently received $1,000 from Venture Inn for the effort. Another $3,000 is expected to come from the county. County commissioners view Turner as an economic engine for the region, bringing in skiers and snowboarders from across the country and down from Canada.

Zwang said a groomer fresh off the assembly line can run upwards of $300,000. But the price for used vehicles just five years old drops to between $60,000 and $50,000, he said.

“It’s a really a buyer’s market out there,” Zwang said.

At present, Zwang’s organization has reached out to local businesses, longtime skiers and those that have rented the mountain in the past. But anyone interested in adding to the effort can contact the group at 406-293-2468 or by mail — care of the Kootenai Winter Sports Ski Education Foundation — at P.O. Box 210, Libby, MT 59923.

When the mountain opens in December, Zwang said skiers can expect to see a lot of improvements. Among them, repairs have been made to the lift, which contributed to the early end of the previous skiing season.

A busted bearing on Feb. 24 presented an enormous challenge, Zwang said. By the time it was fixed, the COVID-19 pandemic had overtaken the nation.

Heading into the winter, Zwang said skiing — especially at Turner — made a good pandemic activity. There is little crowding on the mountain and hitting the slopes means taking to the outdoors, he said.

Still, volunteers are working on procedures so that the operation follows applicable state and local pandemic guidelines, Zwang said.

“It’s a good outdoor activity and we don’t have large crowds, so social distancing is a real possibility,” he said. “Industry-wide, a lot of folks are looking at the smaller areas from what I read. You’re not going to have to share your air with 6,000 people.”

As part of the lead up to the season, volunteers plan to hold their annual ski swap in the Asa Wood Elementary School building from 3 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 9 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 10. Zwang said pandemic restrictions, like face masks, will apply for the sale, but he does not anticipate overcrowding.