New Paltz’s River-to-Ridge (R2R) Trail, whose popularity surged with the pandemic and is expected to top 200,000 visitors this year, has now become much more accessible for a particular subset of seasonal users: cross-country skiers. While the trail’s owner, the Open Space Institute (OSI), did some grooming on its own during the winter of 2019/2020, there wasn’t a piece of grooming equipment dedicated specifically to maintaining it. Now there is, and the ski season has begun with a bang – before winter even officially started.
“We’ve had tons of people already. People are psyched,” said Veronica O’Keefe Ruoff, a spokesperson for the Shawangunk Nordic Ski Association (SNSA), two days after the 2020/2021 season’s first blizzard dumped more than a foot of fresh snow on the Wallkill Valley on December 16-17. She reported that her husband Mark Ruoff and OSI’s Peter Karis had groomed the trail using the new equipment on Saturday, from the Village of New Paltz all the way up to Butterville Road, and that skiing conditions were excellent.
With a pricetag of about $8,000, the new groomer was purchased by SNSA using $2,500 in seed money via an Access and Engagement Grant from Fisher Skis, matching funds from the Mountain Brauhaus Restaurant and Rock and Snow, plus a number of smaller donations from individuals. “Last year we did a bunch of fundraising,” O’Keefe Ruoff explained. “We’re working hand-in-hand with OSI.”
To tow the groomer, SNSA is continuing to use OSI’s Kubota Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV), which is stored in the garage attached to the rebuilt Smiley Barn on Butterville, adjacent to R2R. OSI is “even paying for the gas. They bought tracks for it to be snow-ready, which cost more than $13,000.” Those winter tracks have now been installed on the UTV.
Based on reactions posted on social media, local XC skiers are enthusiastic about the groomed trail. Because its hills are gentle, it’s friendly for novices and “one of the easiest places to go skiing with kids,” O’Keefe Ruoff noted. Users need not drive up the mountain and search for a parking space, either: “You could go to Rock and Snow, rent skis and walk to the trail.”
The River-to-Ridge Trail’s ease of accessibility comes with its disadvantages, however. Not all users have proven considerate of others. Locals who visit the New Paltz Community Facebook page are already familiar with ongoing complaints about joggers and cyclists who refuse to wear face masks while breathing heavily on the hikers they pass by, as well as dog-walkers who refuse to leash their pets, resulting in attacks on humans and other dogs.
Moreover, painstaking attempts by XC skiers to break track on the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail have for years been spoiled by hikers who see the ski track as the easiest place to walk, or who let their dogs romp through the grooves and break them down. Why should skiers expect greater respect and awareness from R2R users, now that grooming and track-setting have been mechanized? And how does a ski organization educate non-skiers in proper trail etiquette, including where to walk in order to avoid ruining the track?
“We’re definitely planning signage. We’re working with OSI on that,” O’Keefe Ruoff said. “We’re crossing our fingers. We’re going to hope for the best and put up signs.”
Meanwhile, now that winter is upon us, SNSA is seeking volunteers to take turns helping out with the grooming. “Experience is definitely preferred, but we’re going to offer training. There is some heavy lifting and shoveling, such as when the UTV needs to cross a road.” The Kubota has an automatic transmission and is “fairly easy to drive, but will be more challenging to maneuver with the groomer attached.” Persons wishing to volunteer can find out more by e-mailing skithegunks@gmail.com or visiting www.skithegunks.com or www.facebook.com/skithegunks.
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