The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
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 Mike Lynch
Recent warm weather and rains have significantly depleted the snowpack throughout the Adirondacks recently. Many trails have been left with a ribbon of hard-packed snow and/or ice. Of course, that wasn’t the case earlier this winter when we had a pretty consistent snowpack due to a long spell of cold weather. Here’s a ski video…
A press release from The Nature Conservancy reports success in 2017 in keeping invasive species out of Adirondack lakes, thanks to volunteer and cooperative efforts with the Adirondack Watershed Institute. Read the release below. Keene Valley, NY (February 20, 2018) – For the first time in a decade, no new Adirondack lakes were…
By Mike Lynch
The winter of 2015-2016 was a difficult one for the Mount Van Hoevenberg cross-country-ski center. Warm weather and rains forced the venue to close in February, ending a season that lasted a mere thirty-seven days. Mount Van Hoevenberg manager Kris Cheney-Seymour said the short ski season inspired the center to find a way to stay…
People go to the woods for all sorts of reasons. Still, I think it’s a reasonable expectation that your reason to visit not unduly impact my or anyone else’s reason to visit. Tossing a drone up in a peaceful place enjoyed by thousands pushes that, in my opinion. Expecting that your aerial photography is OK…
By Mike Lynch
Part of a press conference about the search effort for skier Constantinos “Danny” Filippidis, who went missing at Whiteface Mountain on Feb. 7 and was located in Sacramento, California, on February 13. Speaking at the press conference are state police Major John Tibbitts and forest ranger Captain John Streiff on Wednesday, February 14, in Ray…
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,…
By Mike Lynch
The skier who was the subject of a large-scale search at Whiteface Mountain was located alive and well in Sacramento, California, on Tuesday, February 13, according to state police. Filippidis went missing on Wednesday, February 7. Forest Ranger David Russell told the Explorer that Filippidis was last seen at mid-station lodge area by his friends.…