STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Will ski for beer and doughnuts.

That’s the battle cry of the annual Galena Loppet, which will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday, March 26, at Galena Lodge.

Nordic skiers are invited to break out their best blob costumes, Norwegian dress or something else that says: Hey, this is not a normal day out on the trails. Then ski 25 kilometers along the perimeter trails surrounding Galena Lodge.

That includes such trails as Rip n’ Tear, Horsecreek, Northwood and Titus. And, no, you don’t have to do the entire 25K. You can do as many Ks as you can.

Load up on the carbs before you come and replenish them as Erin Zell and Don Shepler and other Lodge employees trot out homemade donuts they fried that morning, along with beer.

The event is free—an ode to spring. No registration is necessary.

IDAHO RECORDS SECOND AVALANCHE FATALITY SEASON

A snowmobiler died in an avalanche in the Little Roaring River area of the Trinity Mountains northwest of Mountain Home Wednesday. He was outfitted with an avalanche beacon but, buried several feet deep, he  died before his two fellow riders could locate him.

The avalanche danger at the time of the accident was rated considerable at higher elevations and moderate at middle and lower elevations.

A snowmobiler from West Virginia died in an avalanche in the Stanley Lake Creek area earlier in the month. Forecasters say an additional one to two feet of snow could fall on slopes this weekend, increasing an already dangerous snowpack.