ALL Good Things: A big, awesome february update

2/23/2022

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, TRAILS

BETA 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.

Jamie McGiver of Lake Placid is BETA’s new Outreach Coordinator, which is a year-round, part-time position. The Outreach Coordinator is the bridge to our members, trail users and the surrounding community. Jamie will coordinate communication and outreach strategies, assist the Executive Director in cultivating relationships with businesses, partners, members and donors, and work closely with volunteers and community partners to promote events, fundraisers and outreach programs. Jamie began work in late January and has hit the ground running (you’ve likely already noticed an improvement in the quality and frequency of our communications).

Dusty Grant of Lake Placid is BETA’s new Trails Coordinator. This position was born out of the current “Trail Crew Leader” post, which Dusty has deftly fulfilled since 2019. The Trails Coordinator will be seasonal (April to October), and will still lead the Trail Crew, but will also have additional responsibilities with a focus on managing trail maintenance in the shoulder seasons and special projects like inspecting and improving signage, bridges and other trail features. The coordinator will also work with the Executive Director and local trail committees to design and plan new trails and major trail stewardship projects.

Jamie and her true love, Blu.

Dusty and his true love, dirt.

Jackrabbit Rally Update!

A brisk day on the Old Mountain Road section of the Jackrabbit Trail.

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!

SIGN ME UP!

Sterling Watchorn Trail Fund

As 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:

Honor the donor’s intent to create a legacy for high-quality, sustainable local trail systems in the region (the donor wishes to remain anonymous)
Use the Fund’s matching power to cultivate additional major donations and other funding sources like grants
Provide consistent financial support for the organization and for critical trail projects, community outreach initiatives, and professional development of BETA’s staff that results in greater public support and broader public involvement in our mission

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:

Provide access to new trails that offer high-quality experiences for all potential users
Demonstrate good planning, have strong community support and are shovel-ready
Utilize modern trail designs and plan for long-term stewardship
Meet the highest standards for sustainable recreational trail development in the Adirondack Park

Transformational Trail Project: Keene 9N

This 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.

Local residents enjoy the Three Sisters Preserve in Wilmington. BETA built this community trail in 2018 in partnership with the Lake Placid Land Conservancy in order to increase access to family-friendly trails in the community.

Machine-built trail constructed by Peduzzi Trails Contracting in Windham, NY.

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 Season

Believe 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.

Elizabethtown - continued development of a new community trails system on town lands at Cobble Hill, including a new “connector” between the hamlet area and Blueberry Hill trails, and the completion of work on a new singletrack network that began in 2019
Lake Placid - Trail stewardship projects on the Jackrabbit Trail in the McKenzie Mountain wilderness to address rapidly growing summer use of the trail by hikers
Saranac Lake - Trail stewardship projects on the Jackrabbit Trail in the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest to improve sustainability and access to the Fowler’s Crossing trail network from McKenzie Pond Road.
Wilmington - Trail stewardship projects at the Flume network, including improvements to Ridge, Marble Mountain, and River Loop trails

Hopes for resuming construction of new trails on state land this season have been dashed by the continuing fallout from the 2021 Protect v. DEC court decision on tree cutting for snowmobile trails. The DEC is pausing all new trail construction until at least May 2022 while it reviews and updates its trail design and construction guidelines. BETA is an active participant in this process via the state’s Trail Stewardship Working Group.

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.

Volunteers banking some serious trail karma.

If you've been thinking about getting involved, here's your sign.

THANK YOU for sticking it out til' the end. Please spread the good BETA news far and wide. We appreciate you all.