Trail's historic covered staircases
double as great fitness tool
by Val Rossi - Trail Daily Times
posted Sep 4, 2013 at 1:00 PM
An aerial view of West Trail may look something like a game of Snakes and Ladders, as long narrow roads are connected by a series of staircases.
Due to the steep topography of the west side of Trail and the fact that transportation was once limited, stairways were needed to get residents to town, work and school, according to Sarah Benson, director of Trail Museum and Archives.
The original stairs were constructed in the 1930s to 1940s, most of them using rock and concrete, but others were made of wood. In 1938, there were 31 sets of stairs with an average of 88 steps to each set, totaling 2,728 steps in all. At that time, the stairs would have reached a total of 2,273 feet in a straight line. In the 1950’s, the stairs were upgraded and others were added.
It wasn't until the 1980s when Trail began building metal roofs over top, which saved the city tons on snow removal as previously the staircases were hand shoveled.
The Rossland Avenue stairs, which lead up to Austad Lane, is the longest, single set of stairs in the city with 225 stairs with 24 landings. But the longest multiple set of stairs, consisting of four sets of stairs with 323 stairs and 17 landings, start on Spokane Street at Pine Avenue and lead up to Lookout Street.
Nowadays, residents may not rely on them for the same reason.
The City of Trail has 63 sets of covered stairways, with the majority located on the west side in Columbia Heights, according to “A Guide to Historic Buildings and Places,” a publication released a few years ago.
Today, if the stairs were stacked on top of each other, they would equate to 6,610 vertical feet, approximately two kilometers of stairway.
Along with the popularity of cars, the stairs were becoming under-utilized but over the last 10 years they have regained popularity with many citizens and sports groups using them for training purposes.
Although there are still some people who still use them to get from A to B.
From the Trail Daily Times