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The Erie Canal is Open (as of 5/1/10) – head through a lock in a kayak

Posted on May 2nd, 2010 in New York, Uncategorized

We can use the Erie Canalway Trail any time of year, but now you can lock-through in your kayak. If you haven’t ridden through an Erie Canal Lock in your kayak – you’re missing a world class experience. It’s load of fun. Just be sure to take a pair of old gloves with you (to hang onto the cables as you descend) and it’s helpful to have a compressed air horn with you to get the lock keeper’s attention. I cover a fun loop paddle that includes going through a lock (Cayuga/Seneca canal – Clyde River – Erie Canal Loop) in my guidebook “Take A Paddle – Finger Lakes New York Quiet Water for Canoes & Kayaks.” This year marks the 12th anniversary of Cycling the Erie Canal bicycle tour, taking place from July 11-18. The Canal Corporation is once again partnering with Parks & Trails NY to co-sponsor the eight-day, 400-mile, recreational bike tour from Buffalo to Albany along the historic and scenic Erie Canal. The tour continuously draws over 500 riders from many states and several foreign countries. The 7th Annual Erie Canalway Trail Celebration will be held on Saturday, June 5 in conjunction with National Trails Day. With more than 270 miles of Trail completed, and access to hundreds of historic sites and attractions, the Erie Canalway Trail is fast becoming one of the nation’s premier cycling destinations. Also, in 2010, the World Canals Conference will convene upon Rochester from September 19-24. During the nearly week long conference, the Canal System will take center stage as hundreds of canal enthusiasts from around the world will gather in Rochester to experience all that New York’s Canal System has to offer and to showcase the numerous investments New York State has made in the Canal System over the past decade. The complete 2010 Calendar of Events is available on the Corporation’s website at: www.nyscanals.gov/exvac/calendar/index.html. For boating information, vacation opportunities and news about the New York State Canal System, please visit www.nyscanals.gov or call 1-800-4CANAL4. The New York State Thruway Authority/Canal Corporation offers a free email service called TRANSalert to its customers via email or text messaging to inform them of major incidents and emergencies that may affect travel on the Thruway or navigation on the Canal System. To sign up for the Canal TRANSalert service, customers can visit the Corporation’s website at www.nyscanals.gov/tas/ . To sign-up for Thruway TRANSalerts please visit the Authority’s website at www.nysthruway.gov/tas/ .

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Tags: authority, biking, continuously, corporation, Cycling, erie, events, New York, state-thruway, thruway, transalert

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If you like Olympic ski cross, you can do it, too!

Posted on February 26th, 2010 in New York

BY BOB WILLIAMS, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM, link to original post If you watched ski cross competition on television this week during the Winter Olympic Games and said, “Hey, I’d like to do that,” well, you can – right here at Whiteface Mountain ski area! A real-life ski cross course has been set up and maintained here on Whiteface’s Wolf Trail. And it’s open to skiers and snowboarders alike! “It’s just like the real course, with a regular start house, a little whoop-de-doo right off the bat, multiple dips and banked turns,” explains Bruce McCulley, general manager here at Whiteface, which is operated by the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA). “It’s pretty tame compared to the Olympic course, but our guests enjoy it and have fun at it.” Millions of Americans got their first view of ski cross this week when the Olympic competition hit television screens. In ski cross, four skiers line up side by side at the start line. First skier to reach the finish wins. Between start and finish, however, participants are faced with mounds of snow set up as jumps – in some cases two jumps close together – uphill inclines and course banks and turns. In short, competitors careened downhill, four men and eight skis jumping and turning at one time. Ski cross made its Olympic debut this past Sunday. Whiteface constructed an Olympic-style ski cross course here a few months ago and sponsored World Cup ski cross competition earlier this season. Winners went on to the Winter Olympic Games now underway in Canada. According to McCulley, that course was dismantled after World Cup competition. But, with a growing interest in snowboarding, and with ski cross scheduled to debut in this Olympics, Whiteface decided to add a recreational-style ski and snowboard cross course. Engineers chose the Wolf Trail, which, although classified as a beginner slope, is ideal for recreational ski and snowboard cross. So much for ski cross. Now, if you watched with amazement the Olympic Bobsled competition – and thought you’d like to do that, too – again, you can. Remember, Whiteface, and other facilities at nearby Lake Placid, are Olympic training facilities. So, Lake Placid already has a modern ski jump and – many people don’t realize this – a modern bobsled run. Interestingly, the bobsled run at nearby Mt. Van Hoevenberg, offers recreational bobsled rides. A professional brakeman operates each sled. And here’s icing on the cake: equipment is set up to photograph your run, so you can carry a photo home showing friends and relatives a picture of you zooming down the official bobsled course, complete with official helmet, and posing next to the fire-engine-red bobsled. Established in 1982, ORDA was created by the State of New York to manage the facilities used during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games here at Lake Placid. ORDA operates Whiteface and Gore Mountain ski areas; the Olympic Sports Complex at Mt. Van Hoevenberg; and the Olympic speedskating oval, Olympic jumping complex and Olympic arena at Lake Placid. As host to international and national championships, the authority has brought millions of athletes, spectators and participants to this Adirondack Mountain region. SHORT SCHUSSES: March 20 is the date for the Helly Hansen Big Mountain Battle. For the second year at Smuggs, two-person teams of skiers or riders use strategy and athleticism to work their way through an intense three-hour-long mountain course. Teams are tracked using Flaik GPS. Winners compete in the finals in Aspen. Details at smuggs.com. … Hunter Mt. Ski Bowl hosts the Burton Women’s Learn to Ride camp March 22, 23 and 24 and a moguls workshop March 22 and 24. Don’t forget the always colorful U.S. Chefs Club Race March 7. … This Sunday, Feb. 28, is Adaptive Awareness Day at Belleayre Mt. Ski Center. Belleayre will donate a $25 lift ticket to each person who gives $10 or more to the Helen Hayes Hospital. Proceeds help people who have spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, amputations and other disabling conditions participate in a variety of recreational activities. … March 6 is the final run in the Winterwild.com racing series at Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire. It’s a race up to the summit and back down.

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Tags: adirondacks, authority, facilities, fire, games, mountain, New York, new york hiking trails, olympic-sports, olympics, snowboarding, state, tracks, whiteface