NEWS: Posted on February 9, 2022
Cross-country skiing, now open to the public, on the Osguthorpe Farm
By Lora Anthony, Executive Director
Collaboration Wins
If ever there was a project that defined the word ‘collaboration’ this is it! MTF is elated to be part of the team bringing a much-needed, long-awaited, beginner-accessible, dog-free, ski-only venue to Summit County.
Cross-country skiing, now open to the public, on the Osguthorpe Farm (aka the GreenHeart of the Basin) exemplifies a community effort between the Osguthorpe Family, Summit Land Conservancy, Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District (Basin Rec) and Mountain Trails Foundation (MTF). Donations from the Promontory Foundation and a private donor funded this project. While Summit Land Conservancy holds the conservation easement and coordinated with the Osguthorpe Family, going forward, MTF will provide annual track design/layout and Basin Rec will provide regular winter grooming, tagging it onto their schedule for the adjacent Willow Creek winter trail system.
To give credit where credit is due, the idea for skiing on the GreenHeart was originally the brainchild of, no surprise, Charlie Sturgis, MTF’s former director and ski enthusiast of the highest order. When the GreenHeart came under conservation, Charlie promptly recognized the opportunity to play – again, to those who know him, no big surprise. Now, several years, meetings and contracts later, we have arrived with an amenity that serves the public appetite for fun. Way to go, Boss! Your legacy lives on.
Also deserving of fist pumps is MTF’s very own Trails Manager, Rick, for employing his winter trail expertise on tricky, late season conditions and for coordinating the track layout directly with Steve O. It’s not every day one’s job involves taking a farmer out for a January snowmobile ride on a sugar-snow covered hay field.
At every turn, this was a group effort and, for many proud years to come, the Osguthorpe Farm/GreenHeart cross-country ski area will be a shining gem in our winter trail system. We look forward to seeing xc skiers of all types adopting the GreenHeart as their own – caring for the land and caring for one another.
On behalf of Basin Rec, Summit Land Conservancy and MTF, I extend warm gratitude to a community that supports our work and understands that ‘Trails and Land Go Hand in Hand!’
See you out there,
Lora Smith, MTF Executive Director
