Light snow was falling in Anchorage on Friday evening before the Ceremonial Start of Iditarod XLVI.  The inch that is expected over night will put a nice clean layer on the trial the snow crew is building on Fourth Avenue.  To make the trail, city crews will deposit between 200 and 300 truckloads on the streets.  The staging area requires only a couple loads in each block while the main trail requires 8 loads per block.  Graders follow to spread the snow in the staging area and then create the trail  which begins at 4th and “C.”   The one lane trail is 4 inches deep and has 16 inch side berms. Snow has been stock piled throughout the winter for the purpose of creating the trail through town.  The snow crew is very particular about using clean snow – no rocks and no sand.  Crews complete the Anchorage portion of the “Iditarod” trail around 3:00 in the morning then return to clear the street on Saturday afternoon..