History of the Marshall Nordic Ski Trails

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

History and Construction Details

Site Map

Marshall Nordic Ski Trail Expansion - Phase Four

A Pictorial Tour

The Marshall campus in Duluth, Minnesota is situated on about 40 acres of hillside overlooking Lake Superior.  The construction of a nordic trail system began in the summer of 2003 with a 600 meter loop in a wooded section directly behind the school building.  The trail length was doubled with the phase two expansion in the summer of 2004 that involved covering a large section of exposed ledge rock with fill from a local road project.  The spring and summer of 2005 marked phase three of the trail expansion.  The challenge was to create a ramp from the upper section of original trail down to the football and soccer field area. This was accomplished by building a ramp constructed from over 200 dump truck loads of fill to make what is now called Sunbeam Hill.

According to Joe Nowak, a Marshall Alumni and former Cloquet ski coach,  Marshall School sits on the site of what once was two jumping hills.  The jumps were named Sunbeam and Little Sunbeam. 

Joe also recalled playing next to Brewery Creek in an area that he and his friends called Snake Hollow.  It is into this area that the Phase 4 expansion took place.  The 4 acre area was owned by a local business man who kindly offered the land at a very affordable price to allow the ski trail to be placed on the property.  The Phase 4 expansion added about 500 meters of trail that will now become a part of the trail for the Marshall Sprints.

Please scroll down for a pictorial tour through the Phase 4 expansion

Phase 4 is the trail section in green on the map below.

Todd Campbell marking the proposed trail section in Snake Hollow

The marked section in winter before brush clearing.

Tom McCabe our team logger clearing brush in January 2006 with two feet of snow on the ground.  The work crew would shovel snow off the ground in the area next to brush and trees to be cut.  Tom would cut the brush and the crew would then remove it from the trail.

Todd Campbell removing cut brush from the trail.

Andy M. and Neil Igo taking a short break from hauling brush.

July 2006.  Tom McCabe arrives with his bulldozer to do some shaping of the hills in Snake Hollow to make them safe for skiing and easier to groom.

Tom shaping the transition curve at the bottom of Sunbeam leading into Snake Hollow.

See the last picture on this page for a great before and after sequence!

Dave Johnson removing brush from the Snake Hollow trail.

The uphill section in Snake Hollow.  The ramp was constructed to allow safe skiing and allow grooming up what was a very steep bank.

Britt and Brett raking and seeding the new expansion.

Erosion control matting laid down to prevent erosion and help facilitate grass growth on the trail.

A view of the ramp constructed by Tom McCabe now raked, seeded and covered in erosion control matting.

Update on August 10, 2006

Below is a picture of the ramp constructed by Tom McCabe with grass now growing on it!

Next is a picture of the curve at the base of Sunbeam as it looks on August 10, 2006