Winter Trail Etiquette

While most parents have dealt with teaching playground etiquette to kids, like taking turns and not going up the slide when others are waiting to go down, we don’t spend as much time teaching kids proper trail etiquette.  Recently I realized a big part of it is actually lack of knowledge on proper trail etiquette.  While young kids on the playground rarely incorporate their learnings when parents aren’t around since they’re just too young, trail etiquette is something that will stick with them for life.

I recently learned that even with many active outdoor people, the nuances of trail etiquette aren’t always clear.  I thought I would take a moment to highlight some of the winter etiquette rules here in hopes of encouraging more people to teach their kids as well.  As I teach my kids, I always explain why the rule exists since I find it helps instill understanding for them.  Hopefully my kids aren’t the only ones stubborn enough to not want to follow a rule just because I said so.  When I explain that uphill traffic has priority in hiking because it’s harder to get going again once you stop, they get it. 

REI wrote up a great outline on the basics of the unwritten rules.  Some of the nuances I’ve learned after some great input from an outdoor community group include:

·       The easy situation is that when there is a groomed xc trail you don’t disrupt the tracks with footsteps or dog paws. Personally my household with kids and dogs is too chaotic that I stay away from areas that are groomed so I don’t have to worry about crossing.

·       When there’s room for two trails, stay out of the other sports’ lane.

Some of the nuances I’ve learned after some great input from an outdoor community group include:

·       Ski tracks and snowshoe tracks should be separate even when you’re so far out that you’re breaking trail.  It’s hard for skiers to go over snowshoe tracks with the divots it creates and once they broke trail going one way, they may want to follow those back. So really, if you don’t want to break trail, get there a little later in hopes of others paving the way.

·       There are times when there just isn’t room for multiple sets of tracks, like a steep hillside. We all need to learn to share in those situations and be respectful when we can.

And just remember we’re all learning so be respectful if someone points out etiquette rules and be nice if you see someone not following them because they just may not have learned.