Eastman Living Online Magazine

Article by Andy Eastman
Photos courtesy Recreation

Eastman’s first Ski Center was located at The Barn at South Cove. Cross-country races run on the golf course would start and finish at South Cove. In fact, in 1975, Eastman hosted the Eastern Cross- Country Championships and Bill Koch, from Guilford, Vermont, won first place in the 15K race. A year later, in the 1976 Olympics, Bill Koch became the first American to win a medal in Nordic skiing, winning the silver in the 30K race.

Also in 1976, Ross Hunt replaced Bill Wakelin as recreation director of Eastman and moved the Cross Country Center from South Cove to the newly completed touring center on the golf course. Ross soon expanded the ski trails at Eastman by laying out and constructing the Brook Trail to run from the golf course to what would become Topal’s Bridge, connecting the Brook Trail to Deer Path. Ross felled spruce trees across Eastman Brook and boarded them over to form the original bridge. He then easily extended the trail, already cleared for overhead power lines, up the east side of Eastman Brook. At that time, the Brook Trail terminated at the amphitheatre and bridge located at the base of the dam. Later, in the early 80’s, he added the Lake Trail that ran up the west side of the lake over a path cut for the sewer line that feeds the condominiums and Snow Hill.

Ross also upgraded the grooming equipment, replacing the original “Bombardier” with a “Thiokol-IMP,” a cat tread groomer powered by a four-cylinder Ford engine. The towing equipment consisted of a “roller” made from a culvert pipe, a “powder maker” made from a large diameter open screen, and a rather poor track setter.

In 1987, John Markowitz replaced Ross as recreation director. John later hired Mike Hoisington as his trails and maintenance head. John and Mike worked hard in the early days, getting up many mornings at 2 a.m., after a fresh snowfall to make sure that Snow Hill and the cross-country trails were groomed for the weekend. While grooming, the powder maker would often jackknife and become hopelessly stuck in one of the chair lift stanchions on Snow Hill. Mike recalls that “snow would also slip over ground surface ice, resulting in the groomer and powder maker skidding helplessly out of control down the hill.”

In 1990-91, Mike did the cutting and opening up of the Brook Trail on the west side of Eastman Brook, between Topal’s Bridge and the dam. This provided a loop around the brook, using the amphitheater stage and bridge to pass by the dam. Mike also widened Deer Path between Clearwater and Brookridge drives. Mike described this section of trail as originally more like a cow path than a ski trail.

John Markowitz then created the Troll House that is located on the Brook Trail. The inspiration came to him one night when he was grooming the trail and got the feeling that the location would be ideal for a troll to live. John located an old log and whiskey barrel; Ron Hansen provided the small roof. A clothesline to hang the Troll’s red long johns provided the final touch. The Troll was so popular that one year they even created an eight-foot tall snow sculpture of him! The troll house has been the destination for many children ever since.

In the late 90’s, John developed the John’s Glen cross-country complex, adding almost 4K of relatively easy, open trail. Brian Hastings did much of the work to open up the four loops of the complex along with the access trail to Deer Path. In 1999, a bridge, affectionately known as the “bridge to nowhere,” was added to access Clearwater Drive and John’s Glen from the Brook Trail. It was not until 2007 that Andy’s Alley (named after Andy Eastman) was added, providing a trail to John’s Glen without forcing skiers to walk down Clearwater Drive.

 

We are now fortunate to have a Piston Bully to do the heavy grooming and track setting, plus snowmobiles, rollers and “drags” for lighter work. Today our trail system supports many events such as moonlight skiing, skiing clinics, brunches, cookouts, Nordic Nibbles and Winter Fest. The trails also provide a venue for local ski teams to practice and race. Crosscountry skiers have much to be thankful for with 40 years of growth and improvement in our facilities.

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