Snowshoes and smilesOutdoors

After the 2017 World Snowshoe Championships brought hundreds of snowshoers from around the world to race here, village Trustee Rich Shapiro said a group wanted to keep that excitement for the sport up, so they started the Adirondack Snowshoe Fest. Shapiro and his wife Lindy Ellis, a Franklin County legislator, organized the festival.

The village is considering applying to host the championships again in 2024 or 2025.

Races this weekend were held at Dewey Mountain and the Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center.

Dewey Mountain manager Jason Smith said racers ages 15 to 70 competed on Saturday. Some were visitors, some were locals and some were Paul Smith’s College showshoers preparing for nationals competition in Wisconsin in two weeks.

Alissa Van Zutphen, from Delmar, raced at both locations.

“I had it on my bucket list that I had to do three snowshoe races this year,” she said. “I just met my goal by doing this.”

Van Zutphen said she is a recreational runner, not a competitive one. She’s part of the Albany Running Exchange.

Her first time racing on snowshoes was a couple years ago. She thought a 5K snowshoe race called “Brave the Blizzard” would be a good substitute for a 10-mile race in training for a marathon.

“I had wished I had gone on the long run,” Van Zutphen said with a laugh. “It was the hardest thing I ever did.”

Douglas Goodfellow of Plattsburgh waves as he completes his second lap of a snowshoe 15K at the Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center on Sunday. The race was part of the Adirondack Snowshoe Fest.
(Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

But she fell in love with snowshoe running. She bought a pair, but after several snow-less winters in Albany, decided to take them out of the closet and run in the North Country.

She said the trails here were “beautiful,” but more “strenuous,” as she was running through deeper snow than she was used to.

The snowshoe festival has been held every year since 2018, with the exception of in 2021, because of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s also grown from snowshoe races to include other snowshoe-related events.

After the races on Saturday at Dewey, the first-ever snowshoe disk golf tournament at the mountain was held. Contestants snowshoed from hole to hole, throwing disks with ribbons taped to them to keep them from getting lost in the deep powder.

On the course, David Gualtieri said he was thankful for the work Eric Moreira put into popularizing disc golf in the area. Moreira designed and helped install the disk golf course on Dewey, as well as the Barkeater course at Paul Smith’s College.

Brittny Doty lands a putt in a disk golf cage on Dewey Mountain while competing in the first snowshoe disk golf tournament on the course on Saturday, part of the Adirondack Snowshoe Fest. Tom Bell looks on.
(Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

Moreira said he was excited to see the sport grow. When he moved here six years ago he said the only course around was in Plattsburgh. Now, there are eight or nine courses around.

Gualtieri said there’s a learning curve to the sport, but that it’s fun to pick up and play with friends.

“You hear the chains for the first time and you’re pretty much sold,” he said.

There was also a scavenger hunt for kids and “Forest Bathing” sessions where snowshoers could get closer to nature, immersing themselves in the senses of the forest.

Shapiro was encouraged to see the “Campfire snowshoe shuffle” on the first night attended by mostly people from out of town and state. Smith said it was the most well-attended opening event for the festival so far by a mile.

Christine Lennon smiles as she rounds out her first lap of a 15K snowshoe race at the Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center on Sunday. The race was part of the Adirondack Snowshoe Fest.
(Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

Cody Sears, right, lines up a drive on the Dewey Mountain disk golf course while Ben Amos eyes up the toss. The two were competing in in the first snowshoe disk golf tournament on the course on Saturday as part of the Adirondack Snowshoe Fest.
(Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

Issoufou Garba-Hama sprints to the finish line at the end of a 5K snowshoe race at the Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center on Sunday. The race was part of the Adirondack Snowshoe Fest. Garba-Hama is part of the college’s snowshoe team.
(Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

David Gualtieri takes a knee as he lines up an aggressive drive on the Dewey Mountain disk golf course while competing in in the first snowshoe disk golf tournament on the course on Saturday as part of the Adirondack Snowshoe Fest.
(Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)