Skinny skis rule!
Grab your skinny skis and your outdoor gear and be prepared to have a lot of fun and learn some new things at this year’s inaugural Lake Placid Nordic Festival. From races, clinics, and workshops to intro to biathlon and nighttime ski tours, there’s something going on all day and into the evenings for three full days: February 27 through March 1, 2015.
Even if you’ve never tried nordic skiing, this is the perfect time to get out there and learn traditional or skate skiing, ski-joring with your dog or attend a biathlon clinic.
The inaugural edition of the Lake Placid Nordic Festival will feature some cool events for beginners and novice skiers. The Festival itself is being designed not only to highlight some of the great nordic events already in existence, like The Lake Placid Loppet (more on that later), but as a fun event to introduce the sport of cross-country skiing to beginners and add some fun stuff for the novice skier. Several events will take place at Mt. Van Hoevenberg Cross Country Center (also known as "Van Ho" if you ever see that reference), as well as activities at Cascade Ski Center and some right here in the village.
Sponsor displays with hardware and soft'wear'
A sponsor display area will be set up in the Conference Center at Lake Placid throughout the weekend. Retailers and industry reps will have equipment and supplies related to nordic skiing, so make sure you stop by and say hello. The carb-loading pasta dinner included with all entries to the Lake Placid Loppet will take place in the Conference Center on Saturday evening, the night before the big race.
Beginner? We've gotcha covered!
On both Friday and Saturday at noon, don't miss the Beginner Introduction to XC Skiing. The five-hour clinic will teach all the basics of XC skiing during this fun afternoon session. Come ready to be hooked on the sport well known to be the best all around exercise you can do.
Have you always wanted to try biathlon?
One of the more interesting activities planned for Nordic Festival is the Introduction to Biathlon. For the uninitiated, biathlon combines cross-country skiing and target shooting. The athletes carry a heavy .22 caliber rifle around the course with them. The toughest part is hitting a target the size of a 50 cent piece from 50 meters after skiing a strenuous loop as fast as they can. There are many more details to the sport and a longer explanation with specific rules, but that’s the short explanation.
The Nordic Festival Introduction to Biathlon is open to all ages, with those over 13 using .22 rifles and those 13 and under using air rifles. The session includes a video about safety, all instruction, and is followed by a mock race. Come on out to the biathlon range on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 10 a.m. All ages including adults are encouraged to join in and give it a try. There may be an Olympic Biathlete in the future for your family!
Guided ski tour with Adironadack Ski Touring Council's Tony Goodwin
On Saturday at noon, The Adirondack Ski Touring Council will lead a group ski from Mt. Van Hoevenberg to Mirror Lake via the Jackrabbit Ski Trail. This is a great opportunity for folks who haven’t ventured off the groomed trails at ski centers to get out in the woods and see some of this fantastic system of trails with a guide. Tony Goodwin will lead this trip. For those who don’t know Tony, he’s most well known for his authorship of the Adirondack Mountain Club’s Trail Guide to the High Peaks. Tony is THE expert on all trails in the region and one of the founders of the Adirondack Ski Touring Council. This will be a not-to-miss opportunity to spend some time on the trail with one of our iconic outdoorsmen.
A new twist on Farm to Fork...
One of the highlights of the weekend will be Friday's Forever Wild Farm to Ski Night at Cascade Ski Center. The evening will feature a farm to table dinner by Mace Chasm Farm and Ausable Brewing Company, live music, candlelight skiing and lots of community conversation. The event is a benefit for the Adirondack Ski Touring Council/BETA. Cascade Ski Center is one of Lake Placid’s only locally and privately owned, classic ski centers with old style lodge, ski shop, rentals, and a cozy bar and restaurant with a huge roaring fireplace. Come out and meet some of the characters that help make Lake Placid and the Adirondacks what they are, one of the best cross-country ski regions in the world. Our region is also fortunate to have several awesome farms that have an amazing connection with the local communities and regularly produce some of the finest agricultural products around, from cheeses to meats, vegetables and more. Mace Chasm Farm is one of these farm. There are some amazingly passionate folks on the scene here year round and they’ll be happy to offer tips and more if you strike up a convo. I’ll be there and hope to see you there as well!
Wood 'n' Ski Rendezvous fun
On Sunday, also at Cascade Ski Center, stop out with your wooden skis and be sure to wear your knickers - at 2 pm the Wood ’n’ Ski Rendezvous kicks off. It’s a celebration of classic wooden skis and vintage ski wear. There’s a fun, short race and live entertainment with the always entertaining and wildly talented, The Barn Cats Adirondack String Band. It’s always a really fun time and it’s the unofficial Loppet after-party as well. If you're not up for skiing, just come and enjoy the band, bar, food and the good old classic Adirondack ski lodge ambience.
33rd Annual Lake Placid Loppet
The signature event of the weekend is, of course, The Lake Placid Loppet. A grueling 50k (31 mile) marathon race on xc skis, the Loppet covers a good share of the perimeter of the trail system at Mt. Van Hoevenberg during its two laps. There are several divisions and a shorter “Kort Lopppet” at 25k for those not quite up to the long 50k. Racing begins at 9 a.m., with the start of the other races staggered until 10:15 am. The races include both classic and skate style skiing events, for a total of 4 classes across the two races.
A beginner's challenge
In addition to Sunday's Loppet-length races, on Saturday at 1 pm the new 12.5K XC Ski Challenge kicks off. Designed as a strictly fun event, timing will not matter. Lots of prizes, a band and beer will greet each skier at the end. Organizers want those who have never raced in any kind of XC event to take up the challenge and see what fun it is to push yourself a little beyond what your comfort zone is. “This is really a great little starter race for even beginning skiers,” said Kris Cheney-Seymour, Events Manager at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. “This will be a nice place for the novice and under skier to test their stamina in a short race on easy terrain,” he went on. A 12.5K race is about 7.7 miles. Think about walking around Mirror Lake a little more than 2 and a half times. It’s really not that far, and you’re skiing a lot faster than you’d walk. Come on out and see how fun it is and who knows, you may soon be training for next year’s Kort Loppet or Loppet.
A couple of my colleagues and I decided to take up the challenge and started training for this 12.5K event with just a few short weeks to get ready. We've been getting lessons and coaching from a very able coach at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. We had been learning to skate ski and he encouraged us to think about entering. We all know how to ski the classic technique, although we've never competed in a race. Skate skiing is a horse of an entirely different color, but loads of fun. Come out on race day to cheer us on and see how we do! If we can do it, so can you, so maybe you should enter as well.
New at Van Ho this year is a terrific 'terrain park' near the parking area. With bumps and jumps and all kinds of fun stuff, the kids are absolutely loving this new feature this winter! The Nordic Festival will include some events on the terrain park, too.
Join in and make reservations today!
Make your plans now to join in all the fun on the weekend of February 27 - March 1. Reserve a room online and also check out the complete calendar of events (not that you'll have any time for anything else that weekend, but just in case). See you on the trail or at "mahogany ridge."
