Upcoming: Adirondack Backcountry Festival

It’s the season for festivals… a great chance to get out and demo some new equipment, expand your skills through clinics and just share in the community of skiers. We’ll be bringing you a wrap-up of last weekend’s Kootenay Cold Smoke Festival soon, and next week traveling to Vermont for the NATO Telemark Festival at Mad River Glen, but first wanted to plug a unique one this weekend in upstate New York.

Heading into its 6th year, the Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival celebrates the up and the down in the Northeast. Sponsored by The Mountaineer in Keene Valley, NY, the Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival will have guided backcountry trips on High Peaks tours and Adirondack slide descents led by the local backcountry gurus and the Keene Valley’s own Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides. Don’t miss out on the guided Karhu Traverse:

Karhu Traverse ($90) (novice-intermediate nordic) – Guided point-to-point cross-country ski tour through the rugged Avalanche Pass. This is your chance to do the classic traverse with a great group of skiers and without the need organize a drop-off. Participants should be prepared for a long (13-mile) day, and are encouraged to use lighter weight XCD touring gear rather than heavy-duty telemark/AT gear. Karhu XCD ski demos are available as well as limited boots – if you have your own boots please bring them (3-pin compatible only if you are using our demo skis).

The Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival also brings the community together in the evening, with a presentation from Backcountry Magazine Saturday night at the Cascade Touring Center, featuring Nils Larsen and his new film, “Skiing in the Shadow of Genghis Khan.”

The Backcountry Ski Festival is a benefit event, with proceeds supporting the New York State Ski Education Foundation’s Nordic racing programs and the Adirondack Ski Touring Council, stewards of the Adirondack Park’s backcountry ski trail system, including the famous Jackrabbit Trail.