1. But It's not Broken!
Breaking a trail means establishing a passable trail through snow where none was before. The definition of a passable trail depends on how you're traveling and what the snow is like. Breaking a trail can be as easy as walking in front of a party of snowshoe travelers or being the first skier in line, or it can be as difficult as wallowing through chest-deep snow that falls back into the trail as soon as you've gone by.
2. Pathmakers Anonymous
Breaking a trail is hard work, and is shared between travelers whenever possible. Not everybody, however, is physically suited to the task and even fewer people enjoy it. Breaking a trail is also much slower than following, so the slowest movers probably won't get this job. If you cannot or will not contribute to breaking a trail, your group will expect you to contribute in other ways. Some people volunteer to break a trail in exchange for getting out of other duties like cleaning or cooking or as an incentive to be included where they otherwise would not.
3. Not all Things are Equal
A small, light person doesn't sink as far into the snow as a heavy person does. This often makes travel a little easier for them, but it also means that lighter people cannot break a trail very well for heavy people. A heavy person will get some benefit from following the trail of a lighter person, but the heavy person will have to put forth extra effort to pack and widen the trail enough, and also do additional work to pack and widen the trail sufficiently for their own passage.
4. Opportunists Unite
The person breaking a trail is also responsible for knowing where they're going. It's very common for certain trails to show up in slightly different locations each year. Once somebody breaks a trail, nobody else wants to go to the effort of breaking another, even if the first trail is not exactly where it used to be.
5. Be a Follower
The very best trails are broken by others, because it saves you the effort. Keep your ears open about where others have gone, then take advantage of their work and use their already broken trails. Using snowmobile tracks can save you the trouble of breaking your own trail, but it also puts you at risk of being hit by a fast-moving snowmobile. Snowshoers in particular should be careful about where they follow. A single careless snowshoer can obliterate miles of carefully broken ski trail by stomping through the tracks.
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