Cross-country trail development is a multi-step process that begins with a walk or ski over and flagging of the proposed route. Once charted, the new trail should be cut anywhere from 14 to 20-foot wide to allow for easy passage of grooming equipment and double tracking. The wider the better is a good rule of thumb, as a 20-foot wide trail provides a margin along its edges where out-of-control skiers can fall safely and tired skiers can rest.
The most important thing to remember is to get an early start so as to have the new trail ready to go before mid-Summer. The new trail should be laid out and marked before the end of the ski season, and work should be underway to clear it before the snow has entirely melted.
The first step in getting the new trail ready is brushing. In the east and midwest, brushing the width of the trail means cutting trees as close to the ground as possible if you do not plan to grade the trail, or cutting fairly high off the ground and letting a Cat push the stumps out of the way. If the trail is to be graded, a D-5 Cat with a 12 foot blade will do the clearing and grading job most effectively.
In the Rocky Mountain west and far west, touring center operators cut their trees a few feet off the ground and rely on the heavy snow packs to cover the stumps. Grading is uncommon in the west as more emphasis is placed on levelling and grading the snow with grooming equipment after every heavy snowfall.
After clearing the width of the trail and brushing it clean, overhead brushing must be done. In the east and midwest, touring centers brush overhead to heights of 12 to 15 feet. Western centers are finding that a cut to 20 feet above the trail is better because the heavy snowfall and the snow deposits on overhead evergreen boughs. Loaded evergreen boughs will dump snow onto the trail to either obliterate the tracks or create dangerous obstacles. There is also the possibility of the snow falling onto a passing skier and injuring him with its impact.
Branches are best cut with polesaws or nippers flush to the trunk. Knocking low level branches off with an axe can leave dangerous stubs.
The end result of trail widening and overhead brushing is slash. Some touring centers hide their slash from view, others are required by Forest Service rules to re-erect stumps for a esthetic and fast-decay purposes. Most centers burn everything in large slash piles.
Slash can be a very valuable asset as landfill in gullies or in building up sidehill trail sections. It also serves to cover wet boggy areas where water seeps up through the snow during the winter. Slash, evergreen boughs or hay laid over the boggy section will provide a dry cover for snow to settle on and compact.
A more serious water problem involves erosion. Once a trail has been cleared and graded, it should be checked for possible erosion zones. You can seed trails and let the grass be your first line of defense against erosion, or you can designate critical runoff areas and dig ditches alongside or lay culvert under the trail to divert water and avoid erosion.
Taking the water problem a step further, bridges are a priority trail construction item if you have stream crossings on your trail system. In the west, most touring areas have enough snowfall to completely cover streams during the height of the season, but in the midwest and east bridges are necessary and should be properly prepared for safe skier passage over the water.
The approach to the bridge should be wide, flat and a safe straight shot for the skier. A skier approaching a bridge at high speed on a narrow curving path could easily end up in the water.
Bridges should be high enough so as not to become water trapping dams. In many states, bridge heights are regulated by navigable waters acts. Be sure to check with someone in the recreational boating division of your state government before putting a bridge over a stream which is used for raft, kayak or canoe travel.
A basic bridge consists of parallel set base logs notched to hold stringer logs. Base logs should be easily found in your trail clearing slash pile. Base logs set in the ground and stringers laid across the stream, nail 2 x 12 or 2 x 6 rough cut planking across the stringers to form the bridge.
Use twigs, boughs and dirt to fill in the cracks between the planks to provide a base for the snow to settle on. The crevices between the cross set planking can hold ski tips that break through the snow cover. To avoid this pole breaking problem, add lengthwise planking along the edges of the bridge in the pole plant areas.
Bridges done, erosion preventative measures in place, overhead brushing complete and trail width clearing finished, it’s time to move onto the many other steps required to have a trail ready by winter.
