What is the correct way to tag a footpath across a field that can only be used in winter when there is snow on the ground?
Is the limitation a legal one, or is it just that the field is usually wet and the path only becomes physically usable when the ground is frozen? The solution will depend on which one it is.
I had a quick look at Arosa which used to have quite a few winter walking trails marked, but I’m afraid they don’t seem to have been mapped.
In Arosa these are distinct trails which allow walkers to access the same mountain restaurants etc as skiers. I don’t think that the bulk of these correspond with summer trails (snow allows completely different routes and winter hazards (ice, avalanche danger) exclude many parts of summer routes). Below the tree line winter hiking trails are more likely to be a subset of summer ones (e.g, from Zermatt to Zum See and beyond).
If, as in the case mentioned by SK53, the trails are for skiers in winter then I’d use the piste tagging. That is intrinsically a seasonal tagging.
If it is a general purpose trail then a seasonal=winter tag and/or conditional access tag could be used.
I was looking for something like the seasonal tag, but did not find it, don’t know why. seasonal=winter is still not quite right, as the path can only be used when there is snow on the ground. It would seem there is no correct tag for such a situation.
It would at least be documented if it was placed in the description key.
You might also take a look at
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:ice_road
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:winter_road
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Proposed_features/Winter_roads
Sorry to come late, we have piste:type=hike.
- piste:grooming=backcountry if snowshoes are useful
- piste:grooming=classic if the trail is groomed so that shoes will do fine for ‘winter hiking’