Dave Antonucci discovered the 45-year old trails in the late 1990s. He did research and found that they were not old logging roads, as first suspected, but the 60km of trails actually used by Olympians. After the Olympics the trails were restored to their natural conditions or, in some cases, covered over by subdivisions.

According to Antonucci, in 1960 Sugar Pine Point was where important new practices were started in Nordic skiing. It was the birthplace of groomed trails for the competition; it was where the first groomer was "invented;" and it was the place where the biathlon (XC skiing and rifle shooting) was first an Olympic competition. "While Palisades Tahoe is most famous, Sugar Pine was the center of new things for Nordic work."

The West Shore Association (WSA) raised money to purchase the new equipment. And on February 12 at noon, the WSA and volunteers will host a guided cross country ski tour of the trails. The tour is open to the public and free, although there is a $6 fee for parking. The entire XC effort has had steady and vital support from California State Parks-Brian Barton is the Sugar Pine Superintendent-as well as many local businesses and individuals such as Rob Weston of West Shore Sports.

Below are pictures taken Feb. 2 at Sugar Pine. They include the new Yamaha 2006 VF Professional snowmobile, which is big enough to pull the groomer. The Yamaha can be used for rescue operations as well as it can pull a rescue sled. The groomer itself is a state-of-the-art device with motors and cutting blades; it slices and dices a wide, flat swath in the snow. Behind the groomer (the yellow device in the pictures) is the track maker.