.jpg "Chris Schneider")
With a penchant for the outdoors and an appreciation for volunteers, Chris Schneider is the right guy to lead visitors and other folks through the arduous task of V.I. National Park trail maintenance.
The six-month trail manager position is funded by the Friends of the Park group, and makes an important contribution to the park in these days of short staffing and slashed funding.
“He brings tremendous technical experience and lots of time working with crews and volunteers for the benefit of the park and park trails,” Friends President Joe Kessler said.
The Friends run volunteer trail crews Tuesdays and Thursdays. Schneider said people who want to help can show up at the very visible sign in the park maintenance yard next to Mongoose Junction Shopping Center at 8 a.m. He also picks up volunteers at 8:15 a.m. at Cinnamon Bay Campground. They should wait in the reception area.
No advance registration is required. Schneider said the crews work about four or five hours clearing trails. No experience is necessary, and the work locations vary by need.
The Friends depend on experienced trail builders from groups such as the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Adirondack Mountain Club and other similar groups to build such things as water bars and make substantial improvements.
Schneider said that except for the over abundance of bush – much of it the result of the fall’s heavy rains – the park trails are in good shape. He said some of the trails are built on old Danish roads that were engineered to withstand the elements. He said trails such as the Caneel Hill trail were built to get to the top in the straightest way, so they suffer the most from the elements.
He also works with park archeologist Ken Wild to open up areas around historic ruins.
“We’re working at Annaberg, Catherineberg, Cinnamon Bay ruins, Peace Hill,” he said, ticking off a few popular historic spots.
The number of volunteers showing up for the Tuesday and Thursday crews has been slow. In fact, the week before Christmas was the first time anyone showed up, but Schneider said he understands that things don’t get in full swing until after Christmas.
He said he likes it when he gets a diverse group on the volunteer stints. He said older people bring experience but younger people come with enthusiasm.
“My job is to blend the two,” he said.
Schneider, 37, spent nearly his entire career in the outdoors, working as a climbing guide in Durango, Colo., helping to maintain trail huts for the 10th Mountain Division Association in Colorado, in the ski industry during the winter, and leading trail crews for the U.S. Forest Service is such diverse places as Colorado and New Hampshire. He much prefers Colorado because unlike the northeast, the state doesn’t have those endless gray winter days. He said the sun shines and the sky is blue, creating what he called bluebird days.
Along the way, he got an associates degree in outdoor recreation management from Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Colo.
He was at the end of a summer stint leading a trail crew in New Hampshire when he spotted an email posted on the bulletin board. It was from Jeff Chabot, a former St. John resident who started the Friends trail program.
“I said what the hell, and applied for it,” he said, adding that he got his application in just as the posting was about to expire.
A phone interview with Kessler and Friends Program Manager Karen Jarvis followed. Schneider arrived in late October.
So far, he likes working with a non-profit organization, and said given the situation with federal government funding cuts, continuing with non-profit organizations may be in his future.
He and his girlfriend, Jessica Gunsell, are keeping their options open. She has a job working in the Friends store in Mongoose Junction, but the two might head to California where her parents would like them to take over their organic chicken farm.
When they’re not on the job, the two spend their days getting to know St. John. They head to the beach and go kayaking. Laughing, he said despite the fact that many locals find the water a bit chilly during the winter months, he thinks its like bath water.
“We like to incorporate the beach into our lifestyle,” he said.
More on the Friends trail program is available by calling the Friends at 1-340-779-4940 or online at www.friendsvinp.org.
