With the recent purchase of Cascade XC, there’s a palpable stoke in the Tri-Lakes ski community. Ever since the sale of the ski center by the Adirondack Mountain Club, people have been talking. Will it open this winter? What’s going on with the trails and the lodge?
My first exposure to Cascade XC was in the late 1990s. My wife and I drove to Mt van Hoevenberg over the Saint Lawrence Winter Carnival weekend. Organizers cancelled Saturday’s races because the temperature was way below the FIS legal limit. So cold, in fact, that the pipes in the old lodge froze solid.
We’d intended to fill our water bottles there, but that wasn’t gonna happen. We skied out the 3 Trails Loop and took a connector to Cascade’s lodge to ask for water. We stayed at Cascade that morning, cruising the narrow, rolling trails. Accustomed to Mt van Ho, Cascade’s mellow trails were a welcome change.
Built on 200 acres, Cascade Ski Center was founded by Art Jubin in 1979. He and his daughter ran Cascade until selling it to the ADK Club in 2022. In addition to its 20 km of trails, the famed Jackrabbit Trail passes through Cascade.
When the Adirondack Mountain Club closed the Cascade Welcome Nordic Center last year, it was characterized as a temporary closure. Then, the for sale shingle went up. Over the summer, Brian Pollock of Noonmark Holdings bought it.
On Saturday, 15 August, I chatted with Pollock as he worked to renovate the empty building. It was a cool day, 66 degrees, with scattered clouds punctuating a bright sky. The sort of day where it’s warm in the sun, and cool in the shade. Pollock took a break to chat with me on the lodge’s back deck. He’d mowed the stadium and cut down some trees to enhance the million dollar view looking towards Mount van Hoevenberg and beyond.
An Albany-based entrepreneur, Cascade isn’t Pollock’s first rodeo. He owns commercial real estate. He’s hiked in the High Peaks for 25 years. As he speaks, he’s animated and earnest. “I’ve been a huge fan of the Adirondacks forever,” he said. “I happened to be up here, and I saw that it was for sale, and the stars aligned, and I was able to get it.”
In the coming months, Pollock’s priority is the lodge. “It needs a lot of work. There’s been a lot of deferred maintenance,” he said. He plans to replace the windows and roof, among other things. “A lot of things are going to be happening. Everything is in need of some level of work.”
Because of the transaction’s timing, Pollock feels that there’s insufficient time to get the lodge 100% open this winter; i.e., food service and ski rentals. His main goal is to open the trails so people can ski, while rehabilitating the lodge.
“There’s almost no chance of [opening completely] this winter,” Pollock said. “We’re still working on the permitting process, for the work that has to be done. We’re working with my architect and an engineer right now.”
Some of the renovations are more in-depth than just an architect’s drawing; thus the engineer. Securing permits has taken longer than Pollock anticipated. “Had we closed two months earlier, we would have had more lead time to work on building. We’re about two months behind where I thought we’d be.”
Ace groomer Mike Battisti has met with Pollock, and he’ll be back this winter in his former role. “Nothing’s been set in stone, but we agreed it would be good to get the trails open.” He expects that Battisti will begin trail maintenance some time in autumn.
“A fair majority of the southeastern part of the property is wet,” Pollock observed. This section is near where Cascade abuts Mount van Hoevenberg. Although he bought a side-by-side UTV and has done trail maintenance with a chainsaw, that section has to be maintained on foot in dryland season. When the snow flies, one can do maintenance via snowmobile. Pollock noted that the trails hadn’t been brush hogged in a couple of years.
After our chat, I took a short walk around the trails. Goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace, and red clover were a nice contrast to the evergreens. In a couple of places, a bit of blowdown needed clearing. Less than 3 months out from my second knee replacement, I can’t scour the entire 20-kilometer trail system. With Cascade having been closed for almost a year, it’s likely that additional trail maintenance is required.
Although Pollock will open the trails this winter, he’s unsure whether all of Cascade’s trail system will be open, or only a portion of it. “I want to get people on these trails. It’s a really beautiful place.”
Is it fair to say that this winter, Cascade might be a bit rough and ready, and full speed ahead next winter [2027-2028]?
“One hundred percent, that’s my goal,” Pollock said. “It’s my goal to be fully functional next winter. This winter is gonna be, let’s get this place open, and we’ll work out the kinks on the fly. I’m focusing on the building and getting the trails open.”
As we wrapped up our conversation, Pollock opined that in the modern era, it might not be possible to develop a place like Cascade. Would the APA or DEC allow someone to cut trees for 12 miles’ worth of trails, 10 feet wide? To say nothing of the potential opposition of one or two activist non-profit organizations.
I for one will be stoked to get out and explore Cascade again this winter. Remember to brown-bag lunch!
Excellent work Peter. I’m glad we’re not losing this place
Fortunate to have people like Brian that are willing to invest and save a place like this.
Great write-up. Thanks for the update. Best of luck to Cascade XC. I’ll do my best to support the place next time I am up that way. Out of curiosity, do you know if the closure and subsequent reopening of Cascade XC had any impact on the Jackrabbit Trail section running through that area?
Good news, Peter! I look forward to skiing with you this winter.
@JK_PA, good question. A couple years ago, Barkeater Trails Alliance, aka BETA, cut a new trail north of Route 73 from Old Mountain Rd to the golf course. The Jackrabbit section that ran through Cascade is now called Jubin’s Jaunt. People from BETA cleared some blowdown on Jubin’s. Brian has had people doing trail work, but I don’t know the extent of it.