Club set to host Sask. Winter Games skiing loses chalet in fire

A "devastating" fire has jeopardized a non-profit club's ability to host the Saskatchewan Winter Games. 

The St. Cyr Trails Club had just invested extensively, through fundraising and grants, in replacing its chalet's roof in preparation for hosting the cross-country and Para Nordic skiing event in February 2026.

Now, the twisted and burnt metal sheets of that roof are one of the few things that remain after the chalet burned to the ground in May, in what the club called "a complete loss."

"We actually hadn't even made a public announcement yet about the roof before we no longer had a roof," said Desiree Lalonde, one of the club's board of directors, adding the fire had "a huge emotional impact" on the club's board and volunteers.

"It was a big loss to us, not just practically for our events, but also for us emotionally because we had big hopes for it. And we also had really good memories from the facility, as well," she said of the chalet, which was built in the 1980s. 

The St. Cyr Trails Club is entirely run by volunteers and maintains a series of hiking, biking and cross-country skill trails in the boreal forest, year-round. It is the provincial recreation site for Makwa Lake Provincial Park in western Saskatchewan. 

The club received operational funds from the Saskatchewan Winter Games for hosting and some money for small "legacy" items that will remain with the club after the events, like trail maintenance equipment, but that money was already spent before the fire.

Since the club made the chalet renovations a priority, Lalonde said it now has less funding that could potentially go toward replacing the key infrastructure.

The club is working with the Saskatchewan Winter Games to explore both temporary and permanent solutions for replacing the chalet. But both organizations say money is tight, and the club's ability to build a new permanent chalet in time for the games and the winter skiing season will come down to fundraising. 

"It would likely be challenging given the short timeline," Lalonde said, adding there is a lot of pressure on the club to raise funds and come up with options to allow them to host the event. 

"That is our goal. That's our dream," she said.  

No 'nice big cheque' from Saskatchewan Winter Games, for now 

On the Saskatchewan Winter Games side, the current hope is to keep the skiing event with the St. Cyr Trails Club, games manager Britnee Dunsing said.

"We would love to host it at St. Cyr's. And in our minds, that's where we are still hosting it," she said. 

However, without either a permanent or temporary structure to replace the lost chalet, Dunsing said they cannot guarantee that plan. 

The Saskatchewan Winter Games is limited in how much money it can put toward what it calls legacy projects, which remain in the community after the event, Dunsing said. 

"As much as the Winter Games board wants to be able to hand them a nice big cheque, in reality, we have to make sure that we can operate the games first before we contribute to legacy money," Dunsing said. "The chalet is definitely considered a legacy piece."

If the Saskatchewan Winter Games gets more sponsors than expected, that extra funding could potentially go toward helping the St. Cyr Club rebuild the chalet.

"Currently, it's all about fundraising and getting money from the community," Dunsing said. 

Chalet fire not connected to wildfires

The May fire that destroyed the chalet was isolated to the chalet itself, Lalonde said. 

RCMP said in a statement that there is no evidence to date to suggest the fire is suspicious. Police are not currently investigating the matter.

"We were fortunate that there had been a lot of rain the week before," she said. "It certainly could have been a lot worse for the surrounding areas."

Volunteers are still cleaning up the site of the old chalet more than a month after the fire. 

It's not the only piece of community infrastructure that has been lost to fire in recent years and has impacted the upcoming Saskatchewan Winter Games. In 2021, Meadow Lake's hockey arena burned down. 

"Unfortunately, we're no stranger to losing facilities," Dunsing said.

Replacing the hockey arena factored into the community's ability to bid on the 2026 Saskatchewan Winter Games, as it had to ensure the rink would be operational in time for the games, Dunsing said. 

She said the new arena just opened this month.