The Toby Creek Nordic Ski Club has placed the Columbia Valley in the Guinness World Book of Records.

On May 28, Guinness confirmed to District of Invermere Councillor and area business owner Justin Atterbury that the Whiteway, a 34.5-km trail that meanders around Lake Windermere during the winter, has been recognized as the longest maintained skating trail in the world, passing, once and for all, Ottawa’s Rideau Canal and Winnipeg’s Assiniboine River trails, which combined don’t amount to half the distance of the Whiteway. Atterbury submitted the application to Guinness.

The District of Invermere has worked with the Toby Creek Nordic Ski Club and the Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce in pushing the Whiteway to new limits, including expanding length and width of the trail last winter, reported Mayor Gerry Taft during the June 6 Regional District of East Kootenay board of directors’ meeting.

“It’s been an attempt for a couple of years,” smiled Taft, who in 2011 engaged in a friendly war of words with Ottawa and Winnipeg over which community should be able to claim the ‘longest skating trail in the world.’

“Mother Nature” conspired against attempts to set the record in the previous few years, he said. This past year, an additional 3.5 km was added to the trail length.

But it’s a case of David slaying Goliath as wee Invermere has glided past the much larger cities to the east!

Taft noted the Toby Creek Nordic Ski Club, led by former Canadian Olympic Team Nordic coach Lyle Wilson, is currently raising money to purchase a new tractor to allow for better and continued grooming of the Whiteway.

The Whiteway winds from Kinsmen Beach in Invermere to Windermere Beach, with an arm leading to Indian Beach and back, and it includes a loop around the south end of the lake, accommodating skaters, Nordic skiers, walkers, bikers and more.

A celebration is being planned for this upcoming winter when the trail opens for a seventh season.

Check out this beautiful video of the Whiteway

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