As the summer of 2019 drew to a close, a group of Nordic ski coaches and cross-country skiing enthusiasts gathered to discuss how they might improve the skiing opportunities in the Brunswick-Topsham area. It became clear that more timely and more frequent trail grooming and tracking was a high priority for all the members and thus formed what became known as the Friends of X-Country Skiing (FOXCS).

While the Town of Brunswick’s Parks and Recreation Department has a grooming sled and snowmobile they have limited staff who are faced with plowing parking lots and sidewalks that understandably must have a higher priority than trail grooming.

With the shared interest in promoting outdoor recreation throughout the year, the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust has adopted FOXCS as a Community Advisory Group to make the group’s goal of more extensive grooming of winter trails a reality.

FOXCS three primary functions are to:

• Raise funds;
• To provide a pool of volunteers for trail maintenance;
• Consult with BTLT on decisions regarding grooming and trail development priorities;
• Maintain a Facebook Page that will provide current snow and trail conditions of the local trail networks reported by skiers who actually ski the trails.