The Nordic Skiing Blog

Skiing in the Woods

Posted on by Harvey

Skiing in a storm is exciting. Even better, today, there was a surprise storm.  What was billed as light snow in the Adirondacks turned into more. It snowed all day and it piled up.

cabin in the woods

It was a change of routine for us. Instead of getting up before dawn to be at the mountain at 7:30, we hung out, watched the snow, did some sledding and skiing in the woods.  We headed for terrain right out the back door, where we have created some makeshift trails. It’s fun setting tracks in new snow, especially if it’s not too deep.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Nordic Skiing10 Comments

History of Skiing at Mohonk (Update)

Posted on by Peter Minde

When I posted a history of cross-country skiing at Lake Minnewaska and Mohonk Mountain House a few weeks ago, I was pleased, yet frustrated. Pleased because I felt that it was a good piece, but frustrated because it was a bit one-sided. There was precious little information available about Mohonk.

After several weeks chasing down blind alleys, someone referred me to Mohonk Mountain House’s archivist, Nell Boucher. She kindly shared her knowledge, filling in many gaps about the dawn of time – er, skiing – in Ulster County. For example, the alpine operation at Mohonk started much later than I’d previously thought. Mea culpa: instead of brushing my error under the rug, I prefer to come clean.

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Tagged: Downstate NY, Nordic Skiing

Memories: Skiing Minnewaska and Mohonk

Posted on by Peter Minde

I wasn’t around for the very beginning of skiing at Lake Minnewaska. But in 1980 or ‘81, when my best friends introduced me to skiing, they dragged me to Lake Minnewaska on a wicked cold January day. Back then, you had to arrive bright and early. The parking lot would fill up quickly and you were out of luck. “Don’t go, it’s too popular.”

Millbrook Mountain

The lodge was in the old Wildmere Hotel. Perched on a cliff overlooking Lake Minnewaska, Wildmere had been a graceful example of the grand nineteenth-century wood frame resort hotel. But by 1980, it was a tumbledown shadow of its former self. It had been closed to lodgers, most of the furnishings auctioned off. Pieces of old furniture blocked staircases because the upper floors were unsafe.

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Tagged: Downstate NY, Nordic Skiing15 Comments