By David Beers

It is an exciting February for winter sports, as many enjoyed watching the Olympics. Norfolk Curling Club is sending a curler to the Paralympics this year and has sent other Norfolk-based winter athletes to the Olympics in the past. While impressive for such a small town, this should come as no surprise given the fertile ground Norfolk is for winter sports. In the first half of the 20th century, Norfolk had two downhill ski slopes (one with a rope tow), a ski jump and plenty of cross-country ski trails throughout its woods. Between 1933 and 1938, the Norfolk Winter Sports Association hosted ski jumping and ski races, with thousands taking the train to Norfolk to watch the world class jumping competition. Two members of the Norfolk Winter Sports Association competed in the 1936 winter Olympics in Germany. Birger Torrissen competed in ski jumping, Nordic combined, cross-country and biathlon and Nils Backstorm competed in cross-country.

Unfortunately, Norfolk’s ski jump and downhill ski runs are full of trees now, but two winter sports remain strong, curling and the less heralded, cross-country skiing. The Icebox of Connecticut boasts some of the best cross-country skiing in all of Connecticut. Given our high elevation, we typically get more snow and hold it longer than anywhere else in the state.

In the late 1970s and early 80s, the Blackberry River Inn opened a cross-country ski touring center. It had groomed trails on both sides of Route 44, ski rentals and ski lessons. When this center closed, the ski instructor running it opened his own in South Norfolk, the Blackbeard touring center, which ran until the mid-90s. Concurrently, Maplewood Farm on Winchester Road ran a ski touring center on weekends from the late 1980s through the 90s. Tom Strumolo and Ann Havemeyer offered groomed trails, rentals, lessons and a wood stove heated warming room at their farm. 

While all this was going on, at Great Mountain Forest (GMF), Star Childs was offering up some top-notch skiing in the woods. Childs has been skiing at GMF his entire life. In 1982, he began using his snowmobile to create some packed-down snow for skiing on the main forest road. In 1987, he acquired a ski groomer to drag behind the snowmobile. The weighted groomer has steel teeth to break up ice and harrow the snow. There is another attachment to set ski tracks. With a pass out and back on the road, he can set ski tracks on the far right and left sides of the road for classic style skiing, with a six-foot-wide lane in the middle for skate skiing. From 1989 to 1993, the downtown outdoor sporting goods store in Norfolk, the Wilderness Shop, offered ski rentals and sales that skiers often used at GMF. According to Childs, it was during this time that cross-country skiing in Norfolk was at its peak, with competitive ski races based out of the curling club. 

Childs is a self-taught ski grooming enthusiast who has learned to read the snow and the weather to discern when and how to groom the best trail. He knows how to make bad snow better, particularly salvaging icy conditions. Sometimes he has to make multiple passes to create a good consistent corduroy surface. Not only does grooming make for a better ski, but also a much safer ski by providing much more consistent snow conditions that allow for better control when snowplowing down some of the exciting downhills. The many compliments received from serious skiers and ski racers that have skied all over the world is very gratifying to Childs, who also relishes skiing on his sculpted snow as soon as he parks the snowmobile. He admits to loving the feel of skate skiing fast—as if he is flying through the trees. 

Childs usually grooms five miles of forest roads that include the main road from the east to west gate and the road that heads down to Yale Camp (Camp Road and Chattleton Road). All these roads have a water-shedding crown, thanks to the summer road-grading work of the dedicated GMF forestry crew. The crown drains water quickly from the center of the road outward for better snow (and road) conditions with less ice, puddles, mud and bare spots. There are also 18 miles of ungroomed trails, all of which are skied when the snow conditions allow. The GMF website at GreatMountainForest.org has trail maps, trail descriptions and a winter use etiquette guide. 

While the skiing has always been free, GMF asks skiers to sign in and out at the informational kiosks located at the east and west gates. These kiosks also offer a donation box to support GMF. Out of respect for the many hours Childs spends packing and grooming the snow, GMF asks that hikers stay off the ski tracks and groomed snow whenever possible.

There is only one other location in all of Connecticut that offers wide double-tracked trails and grooming for both classic and skate skiing, Winding Trails in Farmington. It charges a $14 trail fee for 12 miles of groomed trails. While it does have rentals, lessons and a ski lodge, Winding Trails rarely has as much snow as the Icebox of Connecticut. Just over the northern border is another full-service ski touring center, Maple Corner Farm in Granville, Mass. An $18 trail fee offers up 12 miles of groomed trails for skating and classic skiing at a 1,400-foot elevation. Newly added to the mix are the one- to three-foot-wide groomed trails at the Norbrook Brewery. The brewery is now grooming the snow for a mixed use of skis, snowshoes and fat bikes and has set ski tracks in some of the wider trails. One would need to travel north of the Mass Pike to find other fully groomed ski trails. Of course, there are lots of ungroomed skiing opportunities at local state parks, state forests and land trust properties.

GMF has a base elevation of 1,400 feet at the east gate that rises to just shy of 1,800 feet. It also has plenty of trees to protect the snow from sun and wind, producing the longest lasting and most reliably good snow in Connecticut. Considering its high elevation, over 6,000 acres of forests, 23 miles of ski trails and folks like Childs, who are dedicated to Norfolk skiing, Norfolk has the best skiing in the state, by far.