We figure most of you have a pretty good case of Birkie Fever setting in, but we wanted to remind you to sign up for this year’s Lakeland Loppet before the next big price jump.  Now in it’s 37th year, the Loppet is a fun day of racing with something for everyone in the family.  There’s the featured 25km FS/CL, an 8km FS/CL, a 4km FS race and a 2km ‘Beat the Bunny’ kids race.  We also have a ‘Best of Both’ category where a skiers times are combined racing an 8km classic and 25km freestyle race.  Spirit awards are also presented to those who race in costumes.  Generally, it’s a fun day of racing on the fabulous Winter Park trails. For more information and/or to register online (no extra cost to you!) CLICK HERE.

Last year's "Sumo Skier" spirit award entrant

Whoooooooooooooooooo!

WTR Wave Start

While there certainly were countless hours of preparation that went into the planning and executing of the first (soon to be annual) Wolf Tracks Rendezvous, Minocqua Winter Park is first and foremost indebted to the weather gods for blessing us with the spectacular blue sky day we had on Saturday.  We’d also like to thank them for the ‘just enough snow’ conditions that allowed the grooming crew to absolutely work magic out on the trail.  The 230 ski racers that entered the race came from 8 different states and Canada, and, judging by the smiles on the faces, they all seemed to enjoy the first running of the Wolf Tracks Rendezvous.

Women's Classic Champ (and great MWP Staffer!) Barb Blow

The 42 kilometer (26+ mile) course featured most of Winter Park’s favorite trails including the formidable Nutcracker and VO2 Max trails.  As challenging as they are fun, these trails, along with all of the others, added up to a race course that offered the ski racers a huge variety of terrain to test all of their skills and abilities.  Comments like, ‘best variety I’ve ever seen in a course!’, ‘most fun I’ve had in a ski race!’,  ’the best course I’ve skied in my 20+ years of racing!’, ‘total riot!’, ‘you guys knocked this out of the park!’….and so on were heard all afternoon after the completion of the race.

All of the results, provided by the good folks from White River Sports and iTiming, can be accessed if you CLICK HERE.

Headlining those results was Men’s Freestyle Champion Adam Swank from Duluth, MN.  We’re honored to have Adam race with us as he has finished as high as 3rd overall in the American Birkebeiner!

Winter Park would like to thank all of the volunteers and staff who were involved in putting on this race.  Without the efforts of these fine folks, the Wolf Tracks Rendezvous would not be possible.  We’d also like to thank all of you fine racers who took a chance and came over to a new race.  Just think, the Birkie started with under 40 racers in their inaugural race.  We had 230, where are we going to be in 40 years!  We hope to have you all come back next year (and bring a friend or two!).

Men's Freestyle Podium 3rd-Andrew Nadler, 1st-Adam Swank, 2nd-Peter Coenen

Women's Freestyle Podium 2nd-Michelle Flanagan-Haag, 1st-Jenna Krueger, 3rd-Susan Tanberg

"Santa & Mrs. Claus" - Ken & Carolyn Aldridge

On December 1, 2011, friends of Winter Park received an early Christmas present, one which will be long remembered. On that day, Ken and Carolyn Aldridge signed papers with the Northwoods Land Trust establishing a conservation easement on their 3,195 acre property -nearly five square miles - including 42Km of ski and snow shoe trails at the core of Winter Park.

A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust to permanently protect a property’s natural characteristics by limiting how it can be used. The land trust is committed to monitoring the land and ensuring that the easement’s terms are carried out in perpetuity.

In this particular case, the Aldridge’s have granted skiers perpetual access to the existing trails and have placed limits on forestry practices, land fragmentation, and development which will keep the land in its natural state and open to the public forever.

3195 Acres Protected by the Aldridges - WOW!

Ski trails now protected include – Base Loop, Tornado Alley, Survivor Windy Ridge, Nutcracker, Nose
Dive, Beaver Pond, Creek Trail, Red Pine, Silver Strider, Sleigh Ride, VO2 Max, Nepco’s Cruise, most of X-C Express and River Run as well as the northern half of Yukon. Much of the newly expanded snow shoe trail system is protected as well.  Regarding those trails, the next step that is being worked on currently is a Trail Management Agreement  that will describe the rights of trail management to be upheld by the Lakeland Ski Touring Foundation.

This is the largest gift of a conservation easement ever made in Wisconsin!  Feature articles have shown up in the Chicago Tribune, The Daily Herald in Chicagoland, and the Milwaukee Journal.