Please check revised schedule for Friday and Saturday, and revised start procedures for Spint event here

Cascade Welcome Center – Friday Sprint Event

Map Scale: 1: 6,000; Contour Interval: 5m
Course Time Limit 1 hr.

Cascade is a small ski area run by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) and is very popular with local recreational skiers. Click here to see a site map. It is groomed by a snowmobile pulling a small roller or Ginzu groomer and the trails are relatively narrow.  Most trails allow for setting a classic track to one side and a skate lane beside it. There are some areas that are too narrow for a skate lane so please double pole in the classic track in these areas. An effort was made to avoid these narrow trails in the process of course setting.

If you are skating please respect trail etiquette: don’t trash the classic tracks and double pole when passing other skiers and when you don’t have enough room to skate.

The terrain is relatively flat but the longer courses will visit the hilly section. The downhills will be fast so take care to ski in control as you will encounter skiers going in both directions. There are no one way trails on the map, and you may ignore any one way trail signs you see while skiing on the course. Taking short cuts through the woods may look tempting but be aware that the vegetation between trails is mostly dark green with thick spruce and lots of deadfall thrown aside from trail maintenance.

Ski technique and equipment choices: Classic (kick and glide) skis as well as Skate (freestyle) skis are appropriate. If using classic you should consider using a robust binder wax under your kick wax as the tracks are often firm and even icy under the powdery top layers.  A reminder that all wax must be non-fluoro.

There are no indoor waxing facilities at Cascade but as Mt. van Hoevenberg is less than a 5 minute drive away, using the indoor facilities there is a good option.

At the Finish you will be asked to drop your map in a box if starts are still ongoing. These maps will be available after the event. Please go inside immediately to download.  We’d welcome any assistance in picking up controls after the race, so bring a backpack and let us know you’re willing to help!

Click here to see a ski-o map of the Cascade trail system.

Dewey Mountain Recreation Center, Saturday Middle Event

Map Scale: 1 : 5,000; Contour Interval: 2.5m
Course Time Limit 2.5 hrs.

Dewey Mt. is a municipal park on the outskirts of Saranac Lake. Click here to see a site map. It is used by walkers and mountain bikers in the summer and by snowshoers, skiers and fat bikers in the winter. There may be tracks in the woods left by ski mountaineers descending from ungroomed areas at the top of the mountain. A good portion of the trail system is located on the side of the mountain so expect some uphill slogging along with some fast and furious downhills.

If all the mountain bike and snowshoe rails were on the map it would be unreadable, so only the groomed trails and the main snowshoe trails are shown. As the grooming is done with a small snowmobile pulled ginzu many trails are relatively narrow, so keep your eyes open for oncoming skiers. There are no one way trails on the map and you may ignore the one way trail signs you see while skiing the course. Please be aware that you will likely encounter local skiers who are used to one way traffic on certain trails, so stay right to avoid accidents.

Because there are so many trails the woods may seem open, but there are many unmapped brush piles at the edges of trails. There are a few features that are not mapped for the sake of map clarity such as disc golf baskets and trail lighting fixtures and wires, including light poles. Also not mapped are drainage ditches which run along the side of some trails. These can be deep so take care not to break a ski if you decide to cross them.

You may encounter a “Private Property” sign or two on your course. These can be ignored as they’re not accurate and you will actually be on municipal land at all times.

There will be a designated zone for equipment changes beside the large trail map in front of the main lodge. Extra equipment may be left there in case it’s needed during your race;
remember that if you choose to use this equipment you cannot receive assistance while changing it.

You may encounter some course markers set out for the ESG fat bike race that is scheduled for the afternoon.

Ski technique and equipment choices: because Dewey employs a small grooming crew there may be fresh ungroomed snow on some secondary trails. Many of these are steep so classic skis can be a good choice for less accomplished skiers and don’t be afraid to side step or even take off your skis to navigate steeper sections. Regardless of the technique you choose, rock skis are always a wise choice at Dewey and a reminder that all wax must be non-fluoro!

Indoor waxing facilities are located in a small unheated building adjacent to the main lodge.

Please go inside immediately after finishing to download.  We’d welcome any assistance in picking up controls after the race, so bring a backpack and let us know you’re willing to help!

Click here to see a ski-o map of the Dewey trail system.

The VIC, Sunday Long Event

Scale: 1 : 12,500; Contour interval: 5m
Course Time Limit 3 hrs.

The Visitors Interpretive Center at Paul Smiths College is a multi-use facility: nature center, cross country ski & biathlon racing venue and demonstration forest.  As you ski you will experience nature trails, forest management zones, wildlife preserve areas and wide ski racing trails. We will be sharing the trails with recreational skiers and snowshoers on nature walks. The map features a large marsh area – Heron Marsh – in the center with trails all around its perimeter. Crossing Heron Marsh is only allowed at the 2 locations depicted on the map where marked trails cross it.

The blue and red courses feature a map flip half way through the course.

The map was updated this Fall and the grooming patterns were checked in December and January. The facility uses a small Piston Bully 100 to groom the wider ski racing trails (>3 m) and a small tracked quad to do the secondary wide trails (1.5-3m). Many of the dotted green snowshoe trails are frequently used but some might be untracked, especially if there has been a recent snow storm. We will make an effort to ski in all the control locations on snowshoe trails.

Most of the forest between trails is white, but bear in mind that there are a lot of downed trees and branches as well as logging slash. The forest management students at the college do demonstration logging projects and current practice is to scatter the tree tops and branches on the forest floor so they can decompose naturally. It definitely is not open runnable terrain in many places and one could easily break a ski by taking short cuts. There are no one way trails on the map and you may ignore the one way signs you see while skiing your course.

You may see some small 4″ x 4″ orange and white control markers that don’t seem to be in the correct location – these are permanent markers for a summer course and will have no flag or SI box, and the numbers will likely not match the ones on your map – see photo on left below. Controls for the ESGs /US Nationals will have a small control marker but will also feature flags and a numbered SI box that should match the control number on your map – see photo on right.

The site map shows the walkway into the building and the extent of the out of bounds areas. You must walk through the building and out the other side to get to the start area as well as the indoor waxing facilities which are located in the Sugar Shack, a small building near the main lodge. There is no waxing equipment provided. Please don’t head off for a warm up ski beyond the prepared warm up zones shown on the site map.  The warm up area is small so you might consider warming up by running around the parking lot.

Given the cold temperatures predicted for this weekend there will be no water provided out on the courses. Please consider bringing a water bottle with you as the courses are long and you could be out a long time.

There will be a designated zone for equipment changes beside the small lean-to near the Start area. Extra equipment may be left there in case it’s needed during your race;
remember that if you choose to use this equipment you cannot receive assistance while changing it.

Ski technique and equipment choices: skating skis are a wise choice for the VIC, especially for more competent skiers. Even though you will be using some minor trails and a few snowshoe trails, you will spend a lot of time on wide and well groomed ski trails.  For classic skiers a good binder wax ironed on will help the top coats of wax last longer. When you are on the minor (dashed green) trails please watch out for recreational skiers and snowshoers and double pole to pass them. If you are skating please respect trail etiquette: don’t trash the classic tracks and double pole when passing other skiers and when you don’t have enough room to skate.

Please go inside immediately after finishing to download.  We’d welcome any assistance in picking up controls after the race, so bring a backpack and let us know you’re willing to help!

Click here to see a ski-o map of the VIC trail system.