Roxy's movin on up

With the new "Toll Rd" built it was time to move Roxy (aka the rope tow truck) up to the top of the hill.  Roxy had been sitting still all summer so were curious to she'd run allright.

Kricket and Galen removing the cable ties while Jay puts the tires on.

Vroom - she started right up.

Jay had to get used to driving with a hand throttle.

Up the snowmobile trail to the road.

Made it up half way!

Lookin pretty.

I followed Jay and Roxy with the tractor while Kricket and Galen followed us and took this picture as we were headed up the driveway.

At the bottom of the new trail - Toll Rd.

And at the top!

Roxy's new home with the rope tow line headed down the hill off to the left.

We also had to switch out the bull wheel that was at the top.  I was able to pick it up with the tractor.

Headed down the road..

And down the snowmobile trail..

To the bottom.  It's going to be nice to have more space at the base area now that the truck is at the top.  We'll be able to grab on to the rope the flat area instead of on the hill (after the old idle wheels in the picture).

Excavator!

The excavator finally arrived!  In one days  work Billy and Ray were able to bench a wide trail in.  Luckily the soil has been dry and packed well enough so that we could drive up at the end of the day.  Jay took the honors and drove his jeep up the new trail.  Here is a picture he texted me from the top.

Kricket decided that we should name the trail "Toll Rd" - given that you can drive up to the top.

Tappy checking out the trail after the 2nd switchback which is also the steepest part of the trail.

Looking down towards the 3rd switchback.

Looking up at the final steep climb.

I was able to drive the tractor up and pull out a cherry log.  We're hoping to sell a few cherry logs for veneer.  It's handy to have a well built trail to pull lumber/firewood out as well as being able to ski on it this winter.  Looking forward as it should be a challenging climb and a fun fast downhill with those 3 switchbacks.

On our way down to town we saw a rainbow above the gap.

More Nordic Trail Work

We're slowly making headway on the new nordic trail that will connect the loop trail around the front of our house to the top of the rope tow behind the house.  The cutting of the trail has been a little overwhelming but we're making progress!

Here is the trail at the 3rd (and last) switchback.

At the top of the ridge.  I used the pole saw to cut those high branches that were hanging into the trail.

From the same spot (as the picture above) but looking in the orher direction towards the top of the rope tow.

The final steep climb after the last switchback.

Glading 101

I've been volunteering some of my time to help RASTA (www.rastavt.org) develop new backcountry glades on public and private lands.  We recently signed an MOU to create 3 glade zones in the next 3 years in the Braintree Mtn Forest (BMF).  The BMF glades will be off of Skidoo and Twin Peaks.  The BMF is located a few mtns north on the same range (past Rochester mtn, Cushman and Round Top) from Rochester Gap so I'm excited to help out as the skiing is fairly local.  RASTA decided to host a glading 101 workshop before we really get out there and start glading new BC lines.  The workshop was held at or place on the gap which was kinda nice as it resulted in a new glade line.  We invited 4 instructors from around the state.  Oliver Blackman (Smuggs), Jay Appleton (Mad River Glen) and Hardy Avery (Sustainable Trailworks) along with special guest Dun Cochrane (USFS) provided a wealth of knowledge.  It was a blast as everyone had a great time.

Here is the "classroom" off the new RASTA singletrack trail that we started this past summer.  Jay is speaking here.

We added a sign with RASTA's logo along with VTBC which is a program of the Catamount Trail Association (CTA).  RASTA is a pilot chapter of the CTA.

After about an hour and half of discussions we did some hands on clipping for the 2nd half.

Here is Hardy thining things out.

The line we ended up cutting is to the skiers right of the rope tow.

Soneone named the glade "101" after the name of the workshop.

Here is Oliver talking about his glading methods.

It was definitely a fun day and we hope to build on this by creating a glading handbook so to speak.  This is something I'm currently working on with the VTBC terrain management group.