Welcome to the Adirondacks! We hope you enjoy the great snow conditions. There are links to each venue where amenities and daily trail reports are posted.
Check-In: check-in will begin one hour before the first start each day. This is for those renting mapholders or SI sticks, and for general information. There are no race bibs or packets so unless you need specific items or information there is no need to check in.
Waxing: The best option for the weekend is to use the waxing facilities at Mt Van Hoevenberg, located in small cabins in the first parking lot at the end of Bobsled Lane. You might be lucky and find one you can share; if not you can go to the main desk in the lodge and rent one. You can test your skis and warm up in the main stadium area. Please do not venture off on the ski trails. There is a lot of natural snow which is reflective of the general trail conditions but note that the areas with heavy man made snow should not factor in to your wax choice.
Scotts Cobble and Dewey Mt. each have one bench available for day of race waxing. At South Meadow there is floor space but no specialized waxing tables or equipment.
In keeping with U.S.S.A and IOF regulations the use of fluoro waxes by all participants is prohibited.
Each day’s map has a QR code on it for Livelox route analysis.
We will provide light refreshments after each race. There will be no water or other fluids provided out on the courses.
Start Procedure for All Races
Interval starts will be used for each of the 3 races with racers starting every 30 seconds. Please arrive at the call up line a few minutes before your start time. With 30 second starts it will be difficult to fit you in if you’re late for your start and you will probably have to wait until everybody else has started. Clear and check your SI stick at the boxes situated near the line.
Please stay quiet at the start area so everyone can hear the start officials.
At your start time you will be given your map and you will then punch the start box manually.
You must punch the start box before placing your map in your map holder. Be sure to have your SI stick available to punch the start box.
The start box will not be in beacon mode – you must punch manually.
You may not look at your map before placing it in your map holder!
Members of the Start Crew can not help you place your map in the holder.
As soon as you punch the start box continue to move forward to clear the area for the next starter. You can take as much time as you want to get your map into place but please keep advancing to make room for the next starter. Since you will be on the clock as soon as you punch the start box, it will help to have mastered the art of using a map holder ahead of time!
Friday, Scotts Cobble Ski Center, 5:30 pm
Headlamp required!
Check-In and Download: upstairs in the lodge. There are washrooms off the main room.
Waxing: there is one wax bench downstairs but it is recommended to use the facilities at VanHoevenberg.
Warm Up Area: you may warm up right next to the lodge building. Please don’t ski around the perimeter of the parking lot and don’t go out on the terrain.
Refreshments: we will have light refreshments upstairs in the lodge. A commercial food service will be available if you want to purchase food for dinner.
Start Area: near the main lodge. This is the Start Triangle.
Map Notes: Map Scale 1:5500; Contour Interval 2.5 m
Course Time Limit 2 hrs.
Your map will be presented with the side that is printed at 1: 5500 facing up. The back side is printed at 1:7500 and shows the entire ski center. You can refer to it after the race. We are giving you the enlarged view so you can more clearly see where the purple cross hatched “out of bounds” areas are. Some of the out of bounds areas are obvious like the access road and the roped off golf greens. Others only appear on the map. Please pay attention to the OUT OF BOUNDS areas and ski around them.
Crossing the access road is permitted in one spot only. It is indicated on your map, and we will keep snow shoveled on the blacktop so you don’t have to take off your skis.
Control circles and numbers are black to show up better against the Out Of Bounds Areas.
Controls are set to SI Air; regular insert chips will also work. There are back up punches on the flag stands. The stands also have reflective tape on them. If your SI Air stick does not register insert it into the box manually. If it still does not register use the manual punch.
Download: after you finish your race please go upstairs and download immediately as we need to collate results for the awards that will follow. You can go back out to cool down after downloading.
Saturday, South Meadow Farm, 11:30 am
We are racing at VanHo again this year but starting from South Meadow Farm, 67 Sugarworks Way, Lake Placid.
The temperatures and wind chill values on Saturday are predicted to be cold but tolerable and well within acceptable limits. If the situation deteriorates, however, we are prepared to modify the race format to a one hour Score-O. You will be informed of this well in advance.
Dress warmly: a face covering, ski mitts, hand warmers, etc. are recommended. The larger buildings at Van Hoevenberg shown on the map are open and heated so don’t hesitate to seek shelter if you start to feel you’re succumbing to the cold.
Check-in and Download: Drive straight in from the highway, past the Private Property signs until you come to a large yellow frame building. This is where the check-in and download will be located. Parking will be tight so it’s best to park headed back out and as close together as possible.
Washrooms are located in an adjacent building.
Light refreshments will be provided. There will be no water or other liquids out on the course.
Waxing Facilities: There is an area on one side of the garage with plastic on the floor if you want to set up a wax bench but it would be better to use the facilities at the main Van Hoevenberg stadium area, a 5 minute drive away.
Warmup: permitted only on the track out to the Start area. This is a distance of about 150m. You may not go beyond the Call Up area to warm up.
Start Area: there will be a groomed trail of about 150 m from the main building out to the Start area. The start triangle will be about 150 m beyond the Start area, located at the junction of the main Van Hoevenberg trail network. There is no punch at the start triangle.
Finish: There is a remote finish, located about 1.2 km from South Meadow Farm. After you finish your race ski back to the farm; don’t forget to download!
Map notes: Map Scale 1:11000; Contour Interval 2.5m.
Course Time Limit 3 hrs.
You may ignore “One Way Do Not Enter” trail signs on the trees; you must obey one way arrows on the map. The only area that has one way arrows on the map is the competition trails near the main stadium but you shouldn’t have to go to that area.
Please be on the lookout for skiers skiing in the opposite direction, especially on hills.
SKI IN CONTROL.
Dotted green trail markings on the map indicate snowshoe trails, mountain bike trails and decommissioned ski trails. Route patterns at Van Ho, especially on the north side of the map, have changed this season, and keep in mind that conditions and grooming patterns are beyond our control and can change daily, so some dotted green trails will be skied in and some not.
A U.S. Championship Winter Triathlon race will take place on Friday at Van Hoevenberg which may result in some snowshoe trails being lightly machine groomed at the last minute. They may appear more like minor trails rather than snowshoe trails.
Untracked / ungroomed trails are fine to use but you may encounter deadfall which could make them impassable. There are several trail entrances with orange tape across them. This indicates a downed tree up ahead. You may use these trails but proceed with caution.
Green vegetation markings have not been used but most of the forest is white and you can see what you are getting into before you leave a trail for a possible short cut. The snow is deep and since we have had several major thaws there are some crusty layers along with substantial deadfall under the top snow layers, so beware!
Controls are set to SI Air; regular insert chips will also work. There are back up punches on the flag stands. If your SI Air stick does not register insert it into the box manually. If it still does not register use the manual punch.
The stands tend to be low to the ground and control flags are fastened to them rather than to trees, so look down when approaching controls, not up!
Sunday, Dewey Mt. Recreation Area, 12:00 Noon
Sunday’s temperatures are predicted to be chilly so the race start has been delayed until noon. Dress warmly: a face covering, ski mitts, hand warmers, etc. are recommended.
Check-In and Download: in the main lodge. There are washrooms off the main room. Light refreshments will be provided.
Waxing Facilities: one small room with a bench and electrical outlets.
Warmup: you may warm up in the large open field to the west of the parking and lodge building. Please don’t be a distraction to the racers starting ahead of you by blocking the start line or warming up on the ski trails.
Start Area: right outside the main lodge. This is the Start triangle.
Map Notes: Map scale 1:5000; Contour Interval 2.5m.
Course Time Limit 2 hrs.
Dewey is a town park with lots of winter activity. Currently there is deep snow cover in the woods and excellent trail grooming. You will notice many packed minor trails off the main ski trails. These are regular snowshoe trails in the winter and MTB trails in the summer, most of which are indicated by small trail markers on trees. We have tried to map all of these as dotted green lines but there could be snowshoe trails leading to private houses that aren’t mapped. All controls are situated on mapped ski or snowshoe trails.
Disc golf baskets, lighting poles and signs are not mapped.
You may ignore “One Way” trail signs and can ski in any direction on any trail.
Courses 2, 3 and 4 will have one map flip.
Courses 2 and 3 will have one map on each side.
On the Course 4 map, side 2 will have 2 smaller maps side by side. One is numbered as #2 and the other as #3.
There are no back up manual punches at the controls. If your SI stick does not register at a control please note the number and we will compare it with other racers at the Finish.