Trail Maintenance Skills Class a Success!

OTG recently offered a class in Trail Maintenance Skills for OTG members.  Fourteen OTG members attended the eight hour class held in Ouray on Saturday, April 15.  Instructors Steve Boyle, John Hulburd and Justin Dennison spent the day both in the classroom and in the field, sharing skills that will allow participants to recognize and mitigate trail maintenance issues related to water drainage and wear and tear on hiking trails.

Once the group left the indoor classroom session Saturday morning, they hit the Perimeter Trail to learn by doing.  Working on trail-tread on both the east and west sides of the PT, participants performed maintenance on water bars and rebenched trail tread to the Class 3 standard set by the US Forest Service for the Perimeter Trail.  Members of the class also learned about proper tool handling, safety and use and tried their hand at using a rock sling to move large rock for use in steps or support structures.  

Members of the class were mostly local volunteers, but some traveled from as far away as Durango and New York to attend!  This popular class was second in the OTG spring training series that included First Aid/CPR and the upcoming Crosscut and Chainsaw Sawyer Certification and Trail Crew Leader training.  Click on the Training tab above to read more about the courses offered and to access the registration form.