As a novice skier who tried the cross-country variety before ever swooshing down hill, I can readily testify there’s something magical about moving through tranquil woods in this manner. My wife and I, then just a-courtin’, found ourselves on these narrow skis before either of us had encountered even a modest lift line. We picked it up immediately, and the aerobic workout had us feeling good and working up a healthy sweat in no time. Conditions were fair, we were told, and that meant groomed snow of sufficient depth that tracks could be cut in for skis at the scenic Adirondack site that was our destination that day.

Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center, a family-owned and operated facility in Tannersville, offers the opportunity to experience cross-country skiing in the Catskill Mountain Region—an place of unparalleled beauty.

The center is open weekends and holiday weeks all winter long, conditions permitting or, in other words, when there’s sufficient snow to groom.

This family-run cross-country skiing center opened in 1978 under the name “Hyer Meadows,” with a handful of trails accessed from a pasture on a side road in the village of Tannersville. The combined runs totaled around 15 kilometers of scenic former logging roads and other trails cut and graded through a wooded area on 100 acres purchased by the family. Trail fees were around $4 for the day.

Today, under the new moniker Mountain Trails, the center boasts 35 kilometers of trails on close to 300 acres that are groomed and track-set. There’s also an active cross-country ski patrol to monitor it, and “sweep” the trails at day’s end.

“We used to be open from the first snow through the entire winter during the week,” says owner Rosemary Hyer, who after purchasing the property co-founded the business with her husband, Mark Hyer, as one that would preserve the environmental integrity of a beautiful parcel of land, while bringing in a few dollars for the family. “We wanted to do something that would keep it environmentally clean and not disturb the natural environment,” she says. “That’s why we thought the cross-country would be a good idea. We all loved to ski and decided to try (it).” And there are no lift lines, she points out.

They were considering running the business out of their garage when a chalet on Route 23C that bordered their property came on the market. “We purchased that and opened up in the chalet,” she says. “The rental shop was on the bottom floor. Upstairs was the cafeteria snack bar and a small sales shop.”

For better visibility, around a decade later Hyer Meadows moved to a building on Main Street, Route 23A, a quarter mile down from Tannersville’s lone traffic light. Around 1990, the family experimented with a summer mountain bike operation out of the same building that housed the cross-country skiing business in the winter. Eventually, a new lodge was built at the top of the driveway with an even bigger change in 1992 when the center would change its name to Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center.

Technology has changed since the beginning days of Mountain Trails, allowing for easier and better grooming of the trails. “Originally we groomed with snowmobiles pulling handmade groomers,” she says. “Around five years ago we purchased a Pisten Bully snow cat. It’s a large grooming machine that … grooms and sets track automatically.” It first tills the snow, then lays the tracks for the narrow cross-country skis to travel in, she explains. Hyer’s son Marc Shamus is the trail groomer, and handles maintenance issues for the center.

The new grooming equipment requires a bit more snow than the old method, but as Hyer puts it “grooming with the snowmobiles is rather backbreaking work and the grooming is not as good as with the new machine.” One or two trails can be opened within hours of a significant snowfall, at least six or more inches, she says. But it takes time to prepare the full 35 kilometers for visitors. “When the snow storms fall on the weekends, it’s not a good situation,” she says, because it takes time to prepare the trails for cross-country skiing. “As long as you keep the base, and it stays cold, we can open,” she adds.

Anyone, regardless of ability, will find a place to cross-country ski at Mountain Trails. “The trails are beginner, intermediate and advanced, all marked with the degree of difficulty,” says Hyer. “Children as young as five or six can head out on trails or we have Pulk Sleds available for rent. These have a canopy you can pull over the top, and one or two children can sit in the sled while you pull it behind you. It’s hooked around your waist. You need to be an expert skier in order to pull children,” she says.

“The beginning, intermediate and advanced levels are determined by the steepness of the trails,” says Hyer. “They’re not flat, but gently sloped. The expert trails are quite steep. The area is mostly wooded. Most trails are narrow, through the woods, two sets of tracks wide.” Trail 16 is wider and long, and it’s possible to lay tracks for four side-by-side skiers, she says. Mountain Trails also offers snowshoeing, though skiers have the right of way, and snowshoers are required to travel beside the tracks.

Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center boasts a hearty ski school program, headed by director Karl Kopans. Continuing the family-owned and operated theme, Hyer’s daughter, Alison, is one of the instructors. She’s a Professional Ski Instructors of America-certified cross-country ski instructor, and also a snowboard instructor. Alison can also be found at Hyer Physical Therapy in the village of Tannersville, in the building that was once the Main Street base of operations for Mountain Trails.

Hyer’s son Adam, a software engineer, created and maintains the center’s Web site. Her son Zach manages the rental shop with Alison’s fiancé, Sean Mahoney. Shane Valcich helps out at the rental shop as well. Hyer’s niece Bridget runs the snack bar. And her son Zach’s girlfriend, Maki Honda, also helps out. They’re all volunteers.

The National Ski Patrol also plays a major role in the operation of Mountain Trails. Once one of the largest units in New York State, currently its 11 members include several individuals who are very active in the regional ski patrol program, including Carl Smith, the patrol director; Mitch Kessler, assistant patrol director and National Ski Patrol’s Southern New York legal advisor; Meg Smith, Southern New York’s regional director, and Karl Kopans, Southern New York’s Nordic advisor.

“The Ski Patrol monitors the trails, assisting anyone in need of directions or with injuries,” she says. “We also ‘sweep’ the trails at the end of the day to make sure no one is stranded. They start at the highest point and come down all the trails meeting at the lodge to make sure everyone is in.” Many of these volunteers are dual certified for both cross-country and alpine skiing, says Hyer. The patrol received a National Ski Patrol System Unit Citation as winner of the 2007-2008 National Outstanding Nordic Patrol.

Clearly, for Mountain Trails the challenge has not been finding good people to support the center’s operations, but finding good snow for folks to ski on. In recent years, as changing weather patterns have resulted in sometimes insufficient snow conditions to remain open, Mountain Trails has become a weekend and holiday week facility with a volunteer staff that works other jobs during the week.“We’ve been open every year, but some years it has been just a few weekends,” says Hyer.

Local cross country skiers can receive a pass for the day, and be on “courtesy patrol” under Mountain Trails’ ski patrol, says Hyer. “If anyone has questions or gets lost, they can help them or offer directions,” she says, adding “they would be issued a radio to call in any problems.”

Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center enjoys a healthy relationship with neighboring Hunter Mountain, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and also with nearby Windham Mountain. “Hunter sends people to us when people inquire about cross-country,” she says, adding “and we reciprocate. The husband might downhill and the wife might come here. It’s good for the area when you have both. If we didn’t, that couple might go somewhere where they have both options.”

And when skiing is the recreation plan for the weekend, but downhill conditions leave something to be desired, Mountain Trails’ phone can ring too. “I had a call this morning from a man who said he was going out to ski and it was all ice. He asked if we were open,” she says. That call came the morning of a storm that dumped about eight inches of fresh powder on the region, and the caller would have his chance to try Mountain Trails the next day, when the center opened for the season on January 11—a week earlier than anticipated, sort of. A planned December 2008 opening, after 18 combined inches of snowfall, was scrapped after warmer temperatures and rain washed much of the white stuff away for an unseasonably warm New Year’s Eve.

For the 2008-2009 season, a full day of fun at Mountain Trails starts at $8 for children five to 12 years of age. Teens age 13 to 17 pay $15, and the trail fee for adults is $17. After 2 pm discounts offer $2 off each ticket, and there’s no charge for children under 5.

Everything you need to enjoy the facility is available for rent, so you can try it—whether it be cross-country skiing or snowshoeing—before you buy it. Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center’s Sales and Rental Shop is an authorized dealer of Fischer, Alpina, Salomon and Tubbs.

The rustic lodge and snack bar, attached to the rental shop, offers a menu of soup and chili, hot dogs, sandwiches and more with used cross-country equipment and various compact necessities ranging from Chapstick to gloves, also available for sale.

As for future plans, Hyer says her son has tried making snow a few times: “He’s made it in the air in the parking area,” she recalls. But large scale snowmaking is cost-prohibitive.

Mountain Trails will host the National Ski Patrol Eastern Division’s Nordic Fest on February 27, 28 and March 1. The event is for all Nordic Patrollers and Avalanche and Mountaineering instructors. Interested Alpine patrollers are also welcome.

“I think my kids want to continue running (Mountain Trails). Right now we’re hanging in,” she says. “I’ve lived here all my life. If I didn’t continue this, I’d build a house on the hillside.”

Since my early experiment on those narrow skis in the mountains to the north, I’ve skied downhill about once a year, but my wife and I always return to the memory of cross-country. With Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center now squarely on my radar, I’m sure we’ll be making tracks again—as you should too.

Rosemary Hyer encourages all enthusiasts and prospective visitors to call before they come, because the sport is extremely weather dependent. Mountain Trails is currently open weekends and holiday weeks, weather permitting. Trail conditions and center status are posted on its Web site: www.mtntrails.com. The phone number is 518 589 5361. Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center is located off Route 23A in Tannersville, a quarter mile west of the traffic light. Look for the sign after the Bank of Greene County and Hyer Physical Therapy.