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March 21, 2006
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Grooming the City of Duluth Ski Trails
An Interview with Kelly Fleissner
As this year’s cross country ski season is beginning to wind down, many skiers have been asking how long the city will continue to groom our trails.
Well, DXC recently caught up with Kelly Fleissner, City Forester and Grooming Coordinator, and had the opportunity to ask a few questions that many of us wonder about…
DXC:
The city recently got a new groomer - what kind is it?
KF:
We use a Bombardier BR 180 to groom both the Chester Bowl downhill area and all the city trails.
DXC:
How do you like it?
KF:
The operators think it’s fantastic!
DXC:
Do you have a homebase? Where does the grooming machine “live”?
KF:
Either at Chester Bowl or in a vehicle storage facility out in the west end of town. It just depends where we last groomed and which trail needs to be groomed next.
DXC:
Is there a point in the late season when you decide to stop grooming?
KF:
As long as there is enough of a base of snow and a forecast that seems cold and stable, we will keep grooming. There have been a few years when we;ve groomed into April. It just depends on conditions.
DXC:
How many people make up the grooming crew?
KF:
We have a crew of four to cover the whole city trail system. The primary groomer is Darin Franckowiak. Our operations are part of the Public Works department, and not Parks and Recreation.
DXC:
How long does it take to groom the trails?
KF:
After a good 12-inch snowfall, it will take us two 12- to 16-hour days to get everything groomed.
DXC:
How often does your crew groom?
KF:
Again, it depends on conditions. There were times last year when we were grooming trails three times per week.
DXC:
What keeps the grooming crew busy when they aren’t out on the trails?
KF:
When our operators are not grooming they might be snowplowing, flooding rinks or doing tree work.
DXC:
We understand your crew occasionally helps groom some non-city trails, like Snowflake and Spirit Mt. Can we assume you don’t want to make a practice of that type of thing?
KF:
We like to help, if we have time, but no, we usually don’t. We don’t think we could provide timely grooming at other trail systems, because our primary grooming responsibilities are our five ski trails and Chester Bowl. This year, we only helped groom at Spirit once, to assist with the ski club’s race.
DXC:
Should Duluth abolish the Great Minnesota Ski Pass and just have a Duluth XC Ski Pass, which would allow Duluth skiers access to all Duluth trails, similar to what Three Rivers Park District has done down in the Twin Cities?
KF:
We’ve talked about that over the years, too. On its face, it might seem like a good idea, but it’s difficult to know if the amount of money we would lose by leaving the Great Minnesota Ski Pass system would be offset by the administrative and enforcement costs of implementing a local trail pass. Someone just needs to track down all the data and do an analysis.
DXC:
Is there anything you’d like to pass along to area skiers?
KF:
Please buy a ski pass and be patient with us when the snow and temperatures are against us.
We’d like to thank Kelly and the rest of the grooming crew for taking time to help us understand their operations, and especially for a great season of grooming!
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