From Axe Blazes to Highlines

“From Axe Blazes to Highlines” traces the development and maintenance of Adirondack trails, from Old Mountain Phelps’s first trail up Marcy in 1861 to current work on Mt. Van Hoevenberg and Cascade.

Tony Goodwin’s long Adirondack career began with an ascent of Cascade in 1955. He became 46-R #211 in 1961 and has written and edited numerous Adirondack guidebooks, including Ski and Snowshoe Trail in the Adirondacks and five editions of the Adirondack Mountain Club’s guide to the High Peaks Region.

In 1986, he became executive director of the Adirondack Trail Improvement Society, serving until 2021. That year, he also helped found the Adirondack Ski Touring Council, which built and maintains the Jackrabbit Ski Trail and took on maintenance of several other ski trails, including the Wright Peak Ski Trail. The organization is now known as the Bark Eater Trails Alliance (BETA).

Goodwin’s other Adirondack experience includes serving on the Johns Brook Lodge hut crew from 1966 to 1968, as an Adirondack Mountain Club Ridge Runner in 1974, and as chief of the club’s first professional trail crew in 1979. From 1990 to 1992, he served on the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for the High Peaks Wilderness Unit Management Plan, which advised the DEC in preparing the plan.

He also served as venue manager for cross-country skiing and biathlon for the 1980 Winter Olympics and managed the Mount Van Hoevenberg cross-country ski area from 1981 to 1985. He and his wife, Bunny, live in Keene. Their three grown children have taken their Adirondack skiing and hiking skills to northern Norway, California, and Vermont. Since 2022, he has served as a volunteer ADK Summit Steward.

This event is co-sponsored by the Adirondack Mountain Club.