The birds are singing. The dogs are a muddier, smellier version of themselves. We haven’t heard a snowblower in 48 hours. Is that you, Spring? Happy gross transition season - when we have more daylight but aren’t quite sure what to do with it yet. (Hint: Trail work!). We are gearing up for an ambitious trail season and the more hands to help, the better. Think of it like this: Every time you boost that rock on All-In, or catch the morning light on Pisgah, you're taking a little piece of the outdoors with you. Every time. And you're better, happier and healthier for it. Moods are lifted. Beers taste better. Steps are pepped. So what are you doing to ensure the trails are better, happier and healthier, too? A Final Jackrabbit Rally 2022 Update!Huge thanks to everyone who participated in the Jackrabbit Rally. We created this choose-your-own-ski-adventure event in 2021 with the goal of celebrating the long and storied history of Adirondack ski touring. For the second time, we were blown away by the response. The event raised over $5,500 to support BETA's mission, introduced lots of new people to the BETA community and of course, gave us all a reason to get out the door and slide around on snow - in case we needed another. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mud Season approaches! Let's talk trail etiquette.Recent warm temperatures have us thinking about riding bikes, even if some of us are still skiing. We are fast approaching "mud season" in the Adirondacks and we can expect some low elevation trails to be free of snow and ice within the next week or so. Does mountain bike season start the minute the snow melts on the trails? Unfortunately, NOPE. During the spring, even the most sustainable trails with well-drained soils are vulnerable to damage caused by bike tires and boot soles. Riding, hiking or trail running on soft, muddy trails might feel like short-term fun, but it creates long-term impacts. Recreating on muddy trails also encourages trail widening which damages surrounding vegetation and decreases the quality of the singletrack trails we all love. Avoiding wet, muddy trails altogether is the best way to prevent trail impacts, formation of persistent muddy areas and the loss of precious soil. So what can you do? BE PATIENT. The Adirondack summer and fall trail season feels longer and longer each year (maybe the only silver lining of climate change). The trails and mountains aren’t going anywhere and the soils will dry-out soon enough, let’s give them a break until they are ready to enjoy responsibly. SEEK ALTERNATIVES. If you just can’t wait to spin the pedals, stick to the gravel or pavement roads. Wait for a sunny day and stretch the legs with a cruiser ride around your town, or enjoy the sunshine by doing yard work at home - better yet, bring your rake to one of BETA’s spring volunteer days. MAKE GOOD DECISIONS. If you’re traveling to ride, be sure to check the weather at your destination. Research trail conditions before you plan a ride and respect trail closures and bulletins. If you do head out on a trail, pay attention to soil conditions and if you find yourself in a muddy situation, turn around and call it a day. FLIP THE SCRIPT. Help us harness the power of social media to make good trail etiquette cool again. Did you avoid going on a ride or a hike because the trails were too muddy? Boast about it and set a high standard for trail use etiquette among your friends and followers. RIDE WITH GRATITUDE. It’s a simple concept. Being able to use trails is an incredible privilege and everyone benefits when we trail users recognize it as so. It makes us careful about how we treat landowners, trail managers, town residents, and the land itself. Bike The Borderlands has created the Ride With Gratitude campaign to instill a strong code of ethics within the mountain biking community. It calls on riders to respect the gift of mountain biking, care for others, protect nature, and hold each other accountable. In 2022, BETA is proud to be partnering with our Borderlands friends to promote the campaign in the Adirondacks. Stay tuned for more on that. Trail Karma Banking OpportunitiesDid you know you can give back to the trails you love to ride and ski? Save the date for these upcoming trail days and stay tuned for more info about these and other volunteer opportunities during the 2022 trail season. Things you gain while digging in the dirt: bug bites, bragging rights and a deeper appreciation for the trails you love.
Hey, Local Businesses!Over the past two years, dozens of BETA business members have generously supported the BETA mission. Local businesses contribute to the improvement and expansion of our local trails and events like the Wilmington Mountain Bike Festival and Hardy Kids MTB Race, and some of you even host trails on your land for the public to enjoy. We are honored to have your support and are looking for ways to better acknowledge your gifts. Your feedback is important to us. If you are a business owner, please take a moment to answer this survey and help us find creative new ways of partnering with you in the near future. Not currently a BETA business member but interested in learning more? Send us note. Let's be friends. Look Good. Feel Good. Do Good.Bike Adirondacks (BikeADK) is an Adirondack owned and operated bicycle powered company based in Saranac Lake, NY. BikeADK creates, executes, promotes and supports charity driven events, curates a library of routes and trail networks, builds custom tours, and - BONUS - sells cool shirts that benefit BETA. Bike Adirondacks just released this season’s line designed by Dan Cash and $5 from every BETA branded jersey comes right back our way. Last year, BikeADK donated over $2000 to BETA from sales of their MTB jerseys. Visit their website to browse these and other BETA swag. Happy SPRING!As Northeast skiers, we all know the heartbreak of a February deluge. We willingly ride the freeze/thaw rollercoaster from November to April. We accept the wind holds, the real risk of frostbite and still get out the door for dust on crust, or worse, dust on dirt. But why? Why do we lace up our boots and go? Skiing isn’t exactly a low maintenance sport. First, the pile of gear is limitless. Some of us have one pair of skis - maybe they’re 20 years old, but they’re familiar and unwavering, reliable like the Christmas melt. Some of us, to the detriment of our bank accounts, have a corner of the garage devoted to our quiver - rock skis, alpine skis, backcountry skis, wax-able skis, skate skis, broken skis and of course the pile of old skis that we plan to turn into lawn furniture. Add boots, poles, helmets, skins and layers for every possible weather combination. Last, we have a pack (or several) that we stuff with extra puffies, dry gloves and socks, a first aid kit, three different waxes, a scraper, a brush, hand and toe warmers, snacks that don’t freeze at -23 and maybe some sunglasses that rarely make it out of the bottom of the bag because, well - the sun, much like the powder day, is an elusive and rare unicorn. Yet we sign up for it, do it and love it. We love it even when it’s terrible, because a day on skis is better than a day not on skis. And frankly, don’t try to deny it, here in the Adirondacks, we secretly love suffering. Even better than suffering, we love to suffer together. We are proud, hardy and full of heart and we are drawn to the experiences and to the folks who bring those qualities out in us. We visit our favorite trails with our favorite people and we come out of the woods just a little bit better off than when we ventured in, even if it’s raining, even if it’s bulletproof. FACT: Friendships, business deals and big dreams are born from getting outside and pointing our tips in the same direction. We are proud to serve a community who celebrates skiing, no matter the conditions. Here at BETA we feel like we’ve just crested a big, nasty climb with you and all of your support along with us. Let’s point em’ and send it. STAFFING FOR TRAILS, TRAILS, TRAILSBETA has added two new staff positions and is delighted to introduce you to the team. This exciting development stems from our recently completed strategic planning process and a recognition that we must prioritize professional development and increase our capacity to bring the organization to new heights. This will provide the Executive Director with some much needed assistance and improve BETA’s permanent staff capacity to help fulfill our mission.
Jackrabbit Rally Update!As of today, 107 people have signed up for the Jackrabbit Rally! That’s 214 skis cruising around in the Adirondacks and beyond and a whole lot of love directed at BETA’s mission. We are so excited to see where you’ve all been. Don’t forget to share your adventure with us on social media if you have it (#jackrabbitrallyadk), or in an e-mail if you don’t. If you have yet to sign up, it’s not too late! The Rally runs until March 20th. Plus, we have this theory that the more folks out there thinking about skiing, the more likely it is to snow. Trail magic. Believe! Sterling Watchorn Trail FundAs reported in our 2021 annual report, BETA was extremely fortunate to receive an unrestricted, one-time $250,000 donation in support of the organization’s mission. This incredible gift establishes the Sterling Watchorn Trail Fund to help improve the reach, effectiveness, and impact of our work in the greater High Peaks region of the Adirondack Park. We’ve identified three strategic priorities for the Fund:
BETA will use a portion of the Fund to kickstart “transformational” trail projects in our service area that enhance and expand public enjoyment and access to community and backcountry trails for human-powered activities. Allocations from the Fund will be determined annually by the BETA Board, and will be used to leverage other sources of funding so that projects can be efficiently implemented to create an immediate benefit for our local communities. For BETA, “transformational” projects are those that:
Transformational Trail Project: Keene 9NThis spring BETA will begin working with Peduzzi Trails Contracting, the Town of Keene and the Keene Youth Commission on the first phase of a new community trail system on a 112-acre tract on Route 9N above the East Branch of the Ausable River. The goal of this project is to establish a location in the town of Keene that accommodates numerous forms of non-motorized recreation with some of the trails optimized for gravity-oriented mountain biking (the property has roughly 850 feet of vertical drop - comparable to the “All In” trail at Hardy Road). The 2021 Keene Strategic Plan highlighted the need to provide safe, positive and ecologically sound recreation experiences for residents and visitors alike, citing alternative trails as potential improvements to the town’s recreation structure. The property on 9N between Keene and Upper Jay is owned by Essex County and offers a rare opportunity to implement this vision through the development of a new multi use trail system and mountain bike skills area for people of all ages and abilities. Though there has been a long-standing interest in mountain biking in Keene, there are very few places where bikers are allowed to ride and no specific mountain bike destinations without traveling to Lake Placid, Wilmington or Elizabethtown. With ongoing and increasing interest from Keene students and residents (bike to school day, school owned mountain bikes), there is a strong local demand for creating an outlet for this type of recreation in Keene. In January 2021, BETA began working with the Town of Keene and the Keene Youth Commission to lay the groundwork for this project. We secured a $2500 grant from the Adirondack Community Recreation Alliance and the Youth Commission was awarded a $2500 grant from the Adirondack Foundation Generous Acts program. The Youth Commission utilized the funding to hire Luke Peduzzi of Peduzzi Trail Contracting LLC to do a site analysis of potential properties identified for trail system and pump track development. Ultimately the county-owned property was selected as an ideal location for a 6-7 mile trail system as well as a larger pump track and skills park facility. Another site at Keene Central School was identified for a smaller pump track and bicycle skills facility. In the fall of 2021, Peduzzi Trails developed a conceptual plan and budget for both sites based on a phased approach to implementation. Work will begin on Phase 1 of the new trail system in April and will include 2.5 miles of multi-use trails including a 1.1 mile easy loop and a 1.4 mile intermediate climbing trail with a multi-directional loop on top. Both trails will be machine-built. The climbing trail will eventually be used to access the terrain that will feature mountain-bike specific flow trails. Design and planning work for the flow trails is ongoing and we hope to start work on these in 2023. The first two multi-use trails will form the "backbone" for the rest of the trail system, and will immediately provide a safe, high-quality, sustainable recreation experience for the community. BETA will contract with Peduzzi Trails to perform the majority of the work. Luke Peduzzi is a professional trail builder with many years of experience developing quality, sustainable trails for mountain biking and other human powered activities, primarily in the Catskills where he has worked for the Windham Area Recreation Foundation (WARF) and Tahawus Trails. He is a graduate of Keene Central School and resides in Jay. BETA has allocated $50,000 from the newly created Sterling Watchorn Trail Fund (see story above) to kickstart this “transformational” project. In January, 2022, we were awarded $25,000 in matching funds from the Stewart’s Shops Foundation / Dake Family which made it possible for work to begin on Phase 1 this year. HUGE thanks to Stewart’s for your support! While Peduzzi Trails completes additional site planning work, BETA will work with the Town and Youth Commission to implement a grassroots fundraising campaign at the local level. We have begun to receive earmarked donations for the project already (thank you to these early passionate donors!) We have also identified and will pursue multi-year state and/or federal grant funding in partnership with the Town and the Essex County Office of Community Resources to support future phases of the project. BETA Trail Crew Enters 6th SeasonBelieve it or not, this year marks the 6th season of BETA’s seasonal, professional Trail Crew. What started in 2017 as a dream with a small chunk of money has developed into a permanent annual program supported through BETA membership contributions, donations, fundraisers, business sponsors and grants from local and regional sources. Since 2017, our Trail Crew staff have worked with volunteers and partner organizations to build over 12 miles of new singletrack trails in Wilmington, Saranac Lake, Lake Placid and Elizabethtown, and they’ve performed countless stewardship projects to keep our existing trails in great shape. BETA Trail Crew staff provide the expertise and full-time work schedule which is required for leveraging the efforts of a committed local volunteer force in achieving our goals. We have some great Trail Crew projects lined-up for 2022, and many opportunities for volunteers to get involved in trail building, stewardship, and new outreach initiatives to engage and educate trail users. Here’s a quick summary of the work we have planned this year. Stay tuned for a schedule of volunteer days and more info as we get closer to the trail season.
This will be the 4th consecutive season where we’ve been unable to continue construction of approved new trails on state Forest Preserve lands. BETA will make the most of this continued delay and focus on completing important planning and design work for new mountain bike and ski trails in Wilmington, Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. This includes on-the-ground plans for completing the Fowler’s Crossing network, new singletrack in the vicinity of the Loggers trails, much needed reroutes of the Cooper Kiln trail, and new sections of the Jackrabbit Trail in the Sentinel Wilderness area. THANK YOU for sticking it out til' the end. Please spread the good BETA news far and wide. We appreciate you all.
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