Some work is needed at the Bittersweet Cross-Country Ski Trails outside of Portage la Prairie. Their 33 kilometres of trail took a hit this summer when strong winds took down trees throughout the area.

Member Don McMaster says they ran into a little more trouble last week. "This last snowfall we had, with that wet and heavy snow, it brought down a lot of other trees," says McMaster. "Some were weakened by the storm probably so it's been really challenging, probably the worst year we've had in our memory."

Some of the damage this summer at Bittersweet.

Both classic cross-country skiing and skate skiing trails are groomed across Crown and private land, which is groomed and cared for by volunteers, and there's even a Nordic Centre for people to warm up and change. McMaster says it's a tough job to do and they have to rely on the kindness of volunteers to get things cleaned up.

"We have the snow, which is the important thing, and we'll keep working at it to get it in shape for skiing as soon as we can. It's labour intensive, and we only have volunteers here, and that's a challenge. That's what we'll be doing for the coming weekend, hopefully, not promising, but hopefully we can get some trails set by Saturday."

McMaster adds a lot of people get worried when a blizzard hits like this, but for cross-country ski fans, it's a sign of great times to come. Check out the video of the trails below.