PRESS RELEASE – March 4, 2019

KEENE VALLEY, NY. The Mountaineer in Keene Valley, NY will host the 17th Annual Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival the weekend of March 15, 16 & 17, 2019.  Backcountry skiing combines all of the elements of touring, climbing and downhill skiing into a true winter mountaineering experience. The north country’s backcountry conditions are lining up perfectly for this year’s event!

We are excited also to host an evening of Patagonia films.  The presentation on Saturday is open to the public – doors open at 6:30 pm for the 7:00 pm show, and tickets are a suggested $5-10 donation with raffle tickets available for $5 each. As always, the Mountaineer is encouraging all attendees to bring a non-perishable donation to the Keene Food Pantry to Saturday evening’s presentation.

Guided backcountry ski tours for several ability levels are still available for a limited number of participants on Sunday, and Chuck Boyd will teach the Avalanche Safety and Companion Rescue course on Saturday, with a fieldwork component on Sunday. Advance registration for all guided tours and instructional clinics is required. Registration information is available at www.mountaineer.com/ski-fest/. On Friday, join representatives from Mammut North America for a night of Q&A about Mammut snow safety products and avalanche awareness from 3:30-5:30pm at The Mountaineer.  Mammut will raffle off a probe and shovel package to one lucky winner!

Demos and mini clinics will be held at Otis Mountain in Elizabethtown on Saturday. Otis Mountain is a private ski area that offers a great venue for testing out the latest skis and boots from all of our sponsors as well as clinics on skinning, telemark skiing, splitboarding and more. Mammut will be on hand with an avalanche beacon practice park that is open to the public. Mini-clinics and equipment demos will be free of charge, and no registration is required. Just show up ready to ski! The mini-clinics and demos take place from 10am to 3pm. Old Mountain Coffee will be on site all day with hot food and drink available for purchase. Otis Mountain is located off of Route 9 in Elizabethtown, just a 15 minute drive from Keene Valley.

The Skifest is a benefit event, with proceeds supporting the New York State Ski Education Foundation’s Nordic racing programs and the Barkeater Trails Alliance, stewards of the Adirondack Park’s backcountry ski trail system, including the famous Jackrabbit Trail. Our sponsors Patagonia, Backcountry Magazine, Dynafit, Black Diamond, SCARPA, Julbo, Madshus, Mammut, G3, Osprey, Outdoor Research, Primaloft and Voilé make the event happen as well as provide demo gear for participants to try free of charge.

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For more information, contact Dustin Ulrich (Dustin@mountaineer.com) or Charlie Wise (charlie@mountaineer.com).