LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 35 learning and expanding his skill set. Gravity Logic brought in excavators and other equip- ment to build the bike park at Windham Mountain, while Luke and his crew were tasked with hand-finish- ing the trails. When asked about what it was like see- ing machines used to build trails for the first time, Luke responded, "We just figured we needed to move more dirt — by hand." He told me about days spent with twenty-person bucket brigades moving dirt non-stop to build trails and features on Elm Ridge. "The collec- tive pride in hand-built trails ran deep!" Fast forward a couple of years, and there were in- creasing opportunities to build trails on private land. None of the other crews were really set up for this, so Luke started his own company, Peduzzi Trails, in 2017. As demand for his services grew, he transitioned more and more of his work closer to home, these days working almost exclusively in the Adirondacks. He re- mains proud of creating a hand-built trail aesthetic and incorporates the responsible use of equipment where needed. When a machine is used, he still aims for a sim- ilar trail — just with less back-breaking labor. How exactly does Luke build a trail? First, a landowner, land manager, or an organization like BETA identifies a potential project and seeks de- signs and quotes. Luke begins by thinking about all the stakeholders — not just the people who may hire him, but also the future users and the larger communi- ty. Taking into account the goals for the trail, he tries to define the desired experience for that trail. This is where his degree in outdoor education and many years as a snowboard instructor come in. Luke explains, "Outdoor education is about inten- tionally facilitating meaningful experiences in the out- doors." After considering the stakeholders, goals, and de- sired experience, Luke spends a lot of time with his boots on the ground analyzing the terrain as he creates a conceptual design. He identifies ecologically sensi- tive areas that must be protected. This includes native species and downslope areas that could be damaged if a trail were built without considering how it might affect hydrology. He's always striving to use the best industry practices and maintain respect for the forest and the land. With thoughtful consideration of the preceding fac- tors, Luke also examines the regional context. He asks, "Where are the gaps and needs among the existing trails in the area? Can those be addressed by this trail? " As Luke is working on the trail concept, he said he is also thinking about rhythms and feelings he wants to create, "like dropping into a turn on a snowboard and feeling it perfectly carve on edge. I want to work with the terrain so the trail never feels forced." All of this is on the conceptual side before Luke is awarded a con- tract for the work. When a contract is signed and it comes time to move dirt, Luke often finds himself in a flow state of build- ing. He sometimes finds it hard to verbalize the next steps of a particular day, even though he can see entire sections of trail coming together intuitively. "I'm not artistic in the traditional sense, but this is totally my art," he said. As we spoke more about his build process, what Luke described is much like how a great musician creates a song. "I try to find the crescendo, the big moment of the trail." Once he knows the feeling a trail leads towards, Luke integrates hints of it right from the start. He starts with a visible feature (sometimes called a "squirrel catcher") that gives people a sense of the trail's difficulty. Then he warms people up into the heart of the trail much in the same way a song builds energy through the verses towards the big moment. From there, he continues that feeling, winding down the energy as the trail nears its end. A big part of Luke's approach comes back to working with the natural terrain. "Whether we realize it or not," Peduzzi's trail building style offers variety without surprises. Photo credit: Rachel Carey

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