The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
By Phil Brown
In a controversial move, the state has recommended that former hunting camps in the Essex Chain region be added to the state and national Registers of Historic Places. The buildings in question are known as the Outer Gooley Club and the Inner Gooley Club. The Outer Gooley Club is an old farmhouse that overlooks the…
By Phil Brown
Recent snowstorms dropped a foot or so of powder in much of the Adirondacks. Starting Friday, we skied three consecutive days in the backcountry. And on Monday, we hit up Dewey Mountain in Saranac Lake before reluctantly reporting for work. Needless to say, the backcountry skiing was pretty fantastic. The one word of caution is…
By Phil Brown
The Adirondack Park Agency’s board gave preliminary approval Thursday to an amendment to the State Land Master Plan that will enable the state to create a thirty-four-mile rail trail between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake. The board voted unanimously to send the proposed amendment to public hearings. It will vote again on the amendment after…
By Phil Brown
The Adirondack Park Agency will consider amending the State Land Master Plan next week to allow the state to create a thirty-four-mile rail trail between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake. The APA approved the rail trail in 2016, but a state judge ruled last fall that the trail would violate the State Land Master Plan.…
By Phil Brown
For the third winter in a row, the Mountaineer has had to cancel its annual backcountry ski festival due to a lack of snow. The Keene Valley store had planned to hold the festival this weekend. As usual, a variety of backcountry ski tours and clinics were on the schedule. Ironically, the region is seeing…
By Phil Brown
A state court handed down another decision Thursday in the fifteen-year battle over the status of the Old Mountain Road section of the Jackrabbit Ski Trail, declaring that the road was not legally abandoned. In its 5-0 decision, the Appellate Division overturned an administrative decision issued in 2015 by state Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph…
By Phil Brown
There isn’t much skiing left around Lake Placid, so on my lunch hour Wednesday I went for a run on the loop trail at Henry’s Woods. I found what I expected to find: glare ice and very hard packed snow. The good news is that the trail will be skiable again with a little bit…
By Phil Brown
If winter returns, I’ll be ready. Green Goat Maps has just published a Winter Trails Map for the Saranac Lake/Lake Placid region. The full-color topographical map shows trails suitable for cross-country skiing (shown in red), snowshoeing (green), and riding fat bikes (indicated by icons). The long-distance Jackrabbit Ski Trail, which extends from Paul Smiths to…
By Phil Brown
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has won a preliminary round in its fight to remove empty tank cars stored on a rail line in the central Adirondacks. In a decision Tuesday, the federal Surface Transportation Board granted DEC’s request to waive certain requirements in the department’s forthcoming application to declare the rail line abandoned.…
By Phil Brown
A skier who vanished from Whiteface Mountain and somehow ended up in California doesn’t recall what happened in the six days he went missing, according to New York State Police. “We ask no one to jump to any conclusions,” said Major John Tibbitts at a news conference in Ray Brook Wednesday afternoon. Constantinos “Danny” Filippidos,…