HANCOCK – The Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club is holding its Maasto Music Fest at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Orpheum Theater in Hancock. The goal of the event is to raise money for the rebuilding of bridges along Hancock’s Maasto Hiihto ski trail in West Hancock.

Arlyn Aronson, head groomer of the KNSC says the fundraisers are necessary, as the club’s operational expenses exceed the club’s income.

“The club only takes in approximately $11,000 per year,” Aronson said. “So, why do we do fundraisers? For an example, for this year, we’re well over $50,000 (in expenses). So my spouse, or people, have to write grants to purchase things.”

The club maintains some 25 K (12 miles) of trails, and requires seven bridges, all of which need repair or replacement.

“We have three big bridges; we replaced our largest this summer,” Aronson said. “And that’s kind of why we called it ‘the Bridge Jam’ last year, trying to make fifteen-hundred dollars or whatever, but we kind of wanted to put a face on why we’re trying to raise money.”

While Aronson is not complaining, he admits that there is an issue of people using the trails without purchasing a pass, or offering a donation, largely because they don’t know the amount of money required to maintain the trail system.

“But they don’t want to know, either,” Aronson said. “Nobody understands that we only take in $11,000 per year from passes, the drop-pipes (donation boxes at the trail heads), etc. When you tell people our expenses are $50,000, their jaws drop. So, you say, ‘we’re trying to buy a new fill-in-the-blank, to explain. Nice trails aren’t free.”

The KNSC, which is a non-profit 501c-3, has a membership of between 200 and 250 people of all ages, but many of them are not aware of the high cost of maintaining the trails.

“Most skiers don’t know,” Aronson said. “They ask, ‘why are you replacing a machine?’ ‘What does a new sled cost, $3,000?’ They don’t know that stuff.”

The operations for this year being at $50,000 may seem incredibly high, but Aronson explained the unusual circumstances.

“Our normal expenses are closer to between $20,000 and $30,000. This year was unusual because of that bridge construction, which is going to happen again in two years. We’re not expanding trails, we’re just maintaining these 30 year-old structures that are going.”