Go behind the scenes with John Mallon, a member of the volunteer team responsible for the crisp, velvety Nordic ski tracks along the 22-mile Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail.
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In the winter of 2017, John Mallon, newly retired from a long career in transportation logistics, had just moved to Glen Arbor. When his neighbor, already a member of the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes volunteer organization, invited him to join the group, Mallon figured it was a good way to get to know the park. It was a winter of heavy snowfall and Mallon, who had taken a certification class to operate a Gator grooming machine, spent hours on the trail, falling in love with his new volunteer career along the way. Here’s a peek into his winter world.
MyNorth: Explain the mechanics behind a beautifully groomed track.
Mallon: The Gator pulls a roller that compacts and leaves a corduroy effect—perfect for skate skiing or snowshoeing. Then right behind the roller is a track setter. To make two parallel sets of tracks we have to finish the trail, then turn around and track the other side. The other piece of machinery we use is called a Ginzu. It has a bunch of knives that go down over the track to chew up ice.
MyNorth: Do you track the full 22 miles then?
Mallon: We used to, but this year we are just tracking from Empire to Glen Arbor. The Leelanau Conservancy will be tracking the northern part of the trail.
Find a winter trail map and trail condition reports on the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes website.
MyNorth: How do you decide when to groom?
Mallon: You need probably five to six inches of snow. I live right next to the [Glen Arbor trailhead] and so if we get any snow, I’ll go down to the trail and check it out. Then I’ll go down to M-109 and check it out there. And then I’ll go look around at the dunes. You get so you can pretty much eye it.
Photo by Rob Martin
MyNorth: You’re often the first one out on the trail. Do you see a lot of wildlife?
Mallon: Yes, we had a nice bobcat right in front of us the other day. It was big—well fed! And we see a lot of deer.
MyNorth: Most of the time you are working deep in the woods. Do you prepare for difficulties or even emergencies?
Mallon: We always go out in pairs and we always carry cell phones. Kerry Kelly [chairman of the Friends of Sleeping Bear] always makes sure he’s available in case something goes wrong. We have a first aid kit and shovels in case we need to dig ourselves out of a drift. We also carry saws.
MyNorth: So what defines a difficult situation?
Mallon: We’ve had days where the temperature has been below zero and wreaks havoc on the equipment and everything else. We have heat in the Gator, but we often have to get out to clean off snow that’s built up on the roller or to remove branches from the trail. We have to watch it because we’ll see little twigs coming up through the snow, and sometimes they are attached to [buried] branches. Our first day out this year we had to remove two big tree trunks from the path. For that we have a big iron pole to shove under the log to get leverage. We call it the persuader.
MyNorth: This is all a lot of work for no money. What is the payback?
Mallon: I think the fun thing is that when we see skiers out there—we stop and let them go by because we don’t want to have any accidents—99 percent of them thank us. Then to see the smiles on their faces and so many people and families out there … that’s all our reward.
Photo by Rob Martin