User s Guide to the Book<br >~A ski trail is an ephemeral thing." So says Paul Walker.<br >sculptor of the Goat Farm Trails. He s right. I ve skied lots of trails<br >thi~ winter and have been impressed at their fluidity and diver-<br >sity.<br >Selection criteria How did I decide what makes a trail one of<br >the "best"? I must admit my selection system was subjective. I<br >asked lots of people， including almost all the ski clubs in<br >Wisconsin (my skiing research uncovered a couple of clubs that<br >hadn t been on my mailing list). I also had my own favorite trails<br >after 19 years of skiing. With this as a starting point， from<br >December 10， 1993 to March 19， 1994， I skied 51 trails， including<br >every one of the 25 receiving "best" designation and all of the，<br >Quick Picks in this book.<br > In many ways there is no bad ski trail. Whether you make your<br >own track out the back door or only ski in immaculate machine-<br >groomed tracks， its mere existence makes it a good trail. But there<br >are some factors that help make a trail better. Some things I<br >considered in designating a trail "best" were shelter and other<br >trailhead amenities (like snackbar and bathrooms)， trail maps，<br >marking， grooming， and design. Aesthetic features were im-<br >portant too. Though I will not argue that a place like Governor<br >Dodge State Park is aesthetically more pleasing than Elver Park，<br >I didn t include the Governor Dodge Trail because it was grueling，<br >poorly designed and generally dull. Elver made it because it is a<br >good solid trail for both skating and diagonal， is well marked， well<br >designed and user friendly. If a trail didn t have a reasonably<br >good map available， I didn t use that trail. If the trail was terribly<br >confusing， or hadn t been groomed in a long time， or was groomed<br >very badly， I didn t use it. I also looked for trails that accom-<br >modated both techniques， skating and diagonal.<br > In the final measure， a trail that challenged me， thrilled me，<br >moved me and made me feel good was a winner. But even that<br >wasn t enough by itself. Hixon Forest Trail in LaCrosse provided<br >me with one of my most memorable and personally rewarding<br >skiing experiences because I tackled the climb and descent from<br >Look-Out Bluff. But the trail it~.~，lf just isn t in the same league<br >~lt[， t[，， 1，，..i<br >