Posts Tagged ‘winter sports’

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Second Annual ADK Winterfest Saturday

AdkWinterfestLoj_newLast year my family attended the ADK Winterfest held at the Adirondack Mountain Club’s Adirondack Loj property and had a blast. We spend quite a bit of time at this “gateway to the Adirondacks,” but thought that ADK Winterfest was the perfect opportunity to introduce a one-stop venue of winter activities to our guests. » Continue Reading.


Monday, December 29, 2014

New Owners For Lapland Lake Cross Country Center

Lapland Lake New OwnersLapland Lake Nordic Vacation Center in Benson, NY, one of the Adirondacks’ premier cross country ski resorts for more than 36 years, has new owners.  Kathryn and Paul Zahray, formerly of Matawan, NJ, and Lapland Lake customers for more than 17 years, have purchased the resort.

The new owners say they will seek to increase partnerships with local businesses and plan to continue the resort’s support of cross country ski racing at the secondary level. “Emphasis will be placed on enhancements such as the recently added Reindeer Rally program geared to introduce more youth to the sport of cross country skiing,” they said in an announcement to the press. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, December 27, 2014

A Visit to Hurricane Mountain

Hurricane Mountain From Amy's LookoutRecently I celebrated the heavy snowfall by visiting the Hurricane Mountain Primitive Area. The first part of the visit was a hike to the summit along the trail that begins at Route 9N between the Keene Valley and Elizabethtown.

What a glorious day in the woods! The beauty of the snowfall, clinging to every branch, brushed and sparkled in the higher elevations with hoar frost, worked in concert with an utterly luminous winter light, to make it one of the loveliest winter climbs I’ve ever done. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, December 24, 2014

‘Passion for Snow’ DVD Connects Locally

DVD CoverIf you enjoy skiing, you’ll want to see a Passion for Snow, an hour-long documentary produced by Lisa Densmore Ballard, a Saranac Lake native who frequently writes about hiking and paddling for the Adirondack Explorer.

The movie tells the story of Dartmouth College’s influence on skiing in North America, but it includes several Adirondack connections. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, December 20, 2014

Book Review: ‘Adirondack Trail Skier’

trail skier bookAfter last week’s snowstorm, a lot of people got out to ski and or at least were prompted into thinking of skiing. Ah, but where to go?

For years, the bible for the region’s cross-country skiers has been Tony Goodwin’s Ski and Snowshoe Trails in the Adirondacks.

Now there’s another book on the market: Adirondack Trail Skier by Spencer Morrissey.

Morrissey self-published his guidebook in 2013, but I didn’t get a copy until late last winter, so I held off reviewing it until now. » Continue Reading.


Friday, December 19, 2014

New ‘Adirondack Explorer’ Features Ice Climbing

CoverALast winter, at age fifty-nine, I took up ice climbing. My first route was the popular Chouinard’s Gully above Chapel Pond. Don Mellor, the author of Blue Lines: An Adirondack Ice Climber’s Guide, led all three pitches.

Later in the season, I climbed four classic routes with Dan Plumley: Roaring Brook Falls, the Cascade (between Cascade Lakes), Multiplication Gully in Wilmington Notch, and Chapel Pond Slab. On each climb, Dan led and thus assumed the lion’s share of the risk. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Adirondack ‘Great South Woods’ Ideas Sought

Great South Woods AdirondacksAn effort latter this month hopes to gather public input about how to diversify and enhance outdoor recreation opportunities in the what organizers are calling the “Great South Woods” – a more than 2 million-acre area of public and private lands in the southern Adirondack Park that includes parts of Oneida, Herkimer, Hamilton, Fulton, Saratoga, Warren, and Essex Counties.

The driving forces behind this new initiative have been Bill Farber, Chairman of the Hamilton County Board of Supervisors, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). » Continue Reading.


Sunday, November 30, 2014

Climbers Seek State Land Master Plan Recognition

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn 1971, the year before the State Land Master Plan was adopted, Trudy Healy published the second edition of A Climber’s Guide to the Adirondacks. It was a slim, staple-bound booklet that described about seventy rock-climbing routes.

Last year, Jeremy Haas and Jim Lawyer published the second edition of Adirondack Rock, a two-volume affair with descriptions of more than three thousand routes. In addition, other authors are working on guidebooks for bouldering and slide climbing in the Adirondack Park.

Haas points to these books as evidence of the growth in popularity of technical climbing and mountaineering since the early 1970s. He and other climbers are hoping the Adirondack Park Agency recognizes this growth when it considers amendments to the State Land Master Plan.

» Continue Reading.


Thursday, November 27, 2014

Commentary: It Ain’t The ‘Dacks, Dude!

Paper birch forest on Jay Mountain's northern slopeAbbreviations and acronyms continue to mushroom in popularity with each passing day. As an increasingly face-paced world collides with new and ubiquitous technologies, these short cuts will likely become more invasive in our language. Their burgeoning use coincides with the development of many modern means of communication, such as text messaging and social networking, which may eventually prove as the death knell to clear and concise communication.

What does this have to do with the Adirondacks?

Despite the prominence of these short cuts in popular culture, one annoying Adirondack abbreviation predates this social media trend. My first encounter with it goes back as far as the 1990’s, but it most likely was in use well before then. Although it does not appear to be in widespread use yet, I still hear it from time to time, and it never gets less annoying. Finding a more demeaning abbreviation would be a difficult task, especially when applying to such a beautiful place as the Adirondack Park.
» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Commentary: New Loppet Structure Is Off Course

Loppet2This season’s Lake Placid Loppet Cross Country Ski Race has been scheduled for March 1, 2015. This year the Loppet is being relaunched by ORDA as the marquee event of The Lake Placid Nordic Festival (February 27 – March 1).

Entry fees have skyrocketed. Early registration, (and you better sit down for this) is $99! After Jan 1st it increases to $125. There are discounts for season pass holders, local clubs, and junior entries. And there is a added slate of events, parties, free clinics, discounts on rentals, etc. You can read about it here on the Loppet Page. Last year’s entry fees started at $60. So the $99 fee is an increase of 65%! Why the huge increase? » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, November 25, 2014

2015 Empire State Winter Games Registration Open

Empire State GamesOrganizers of the 2015 Empire State Winter Games have announced that athlete registration is now open on the event website. Competitors and teams are asked to log on to www.empirestatewintergames.com to officially enter the winter sport festival. Over 1,400 athletes participated in 2014.

The annual winter games will begin with a torch run through the northern region on February 4th and 5th, culminating at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, site of the Opening Ceremony and Parade of Athletes. The gathering of competitors will occur February 5th at 6 pm in the Herb Brooks Arena, and will feature the keynote address by 1994 United States figure skating Olympian Karen Courtland-Kelly of Lake Placid.  Competition starts February 6th. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, November 22, 2014

St. Regis Mountain: Bring Your Skis And Snowshoes

StRegisLast winter, my daughter Becky and her fiancé, Joe, wanted to climb one of the Saranac Lake 6, so we snowshoed up St. Regis Mountain.

Although I like St. Regis – with its marvelous views of ponds and lakes—I am not an enthusiastic snowshoer. I mean, snowshoeing is OK, but I like cross-country skiing a whole lot more.

As we walked through the woods, I kept thinking, “This would be a great ski trail.” The terrain is gentle enough that on our way off the mountain we encountered a guy in MicroSpikes running up the mountain.

Becky and Joe, though, thoroughly liked the snowshoe trip. » Continue Reading.


Monday, November 10, 2014

Adirondack Ski Season Preview, 2014-15

Whiteface early snow Nov 7If you’re a skier or snowboarder, the best time of year is almost here.  With overnight temperatures dipping below freezing, ski areas around the region have begun firing up their snowmaking equipment to prepare for the start of the 2014-15 ski season.

Crews have been busy with projects all summer and fall, here’s a look at what they’ve been up to. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Lake Placid Film Forum Series Continues with ‘Red Army’

RED_ARMY_-_5_Line_©_2014_Polsky_Films,_Courtesy_of_Sony_Pictures_ClassicsIt is poignant that the Adirondack Film Society and Lake Placid Film Forum have chosen “Red Army” as part of its inaugural monthly film series. Directed by Gabe Polsky, “Red Army” goes behind the Iron Curtain and tracks the Soviet Union’s hockey team domination to its unraveling at the Lake Placid 1980 Winter Olympic Games to its ultimate demise.

Executive Producers Werner Herzog and Jerry Weintraub helped bring Polsky’s vision to life in this documentary that has received rave reviews from the Cannes, New York, Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals. In “Red Army,” Polsky tracks the Russian hockey dynasty through the eyes of its captain Slava Fetisov. The film reveals how Fetisov fell from the pedestal of Russian national hero to national enemy during the Cold War when hockey wasn’t just a game, but political propaganda and its players were pawns. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, October 30, 2014

APA Gets Ideas For Amending State Land Master Plan

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe Adirondack Park Agency is considering two amendments to the State Land Master Plan, both concerning the Essex Chain Lakes region, but the agency likely will be asked to weigh broader changes to the document.

The Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board already has set forth nine proposals for amending the master plan, which governs the state’s management of the Forest Preserve.

“There’s going to be more, but that’s a start,” Fred Monroe, the board’s executive director, told Adirondack Almanack at an APA “listening session” Wednesday evening, the first of four such meetings that the agency plans to hold to gather ideas on amending the master plan.

» Continue Reading.



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