Directors report:
Welcome to the 20th Anniversary of the Noquemanon Ski Marathon! We have made a number of course improvements over the past few years and we think you are going to be very pleased in the shape of the course this year. Mother Nature has blessed us with a good amount of snow with solid coverage throughout the entire race course this year. The temperatures have been regularly cooler than normal which has given us a rather solid base which should hold up nicely during the warmer temps we are expecting on race day.
As many of you know already we have moved the finish from the Superior Dome to what we call the Log Yard. This location 4 Km from the Superior Dome and where you found the final aid station from years past. We did this for many reasons with the number one being we simply wanted to have a much more consistent race course throughout with snow coverage we could count on. It will still have a UP feel as you will be finishing toward a large jagged rock face. We are looking forward to this finish and hope you will like it as well. The Superior Dome will still be the staging area for our Expo, Awards, Showers, as well as bag drop. We will have buses that will be constantly rotating between the finish and the dome with a short 5-10 minute ride. We have also added a heated tent with vendors at the finish line to include a live DJ adding to the flavor. We strongly encourage spectators to ride the busses out to the finish to enjoy the atmosphere.
The groomers have done an amazing job over the past week. We were hit with approximately 12 inches of snow on Monday however the course is rather firm in most areas. With the warm up on Thursday and Friday with freezing temperatures each night the snow is beginning to transform and should make for a pretty fast race. The water crossings have also had a lot of work done on them this week. Because of the large amounts of rain we received this year, there has been some slushy areas on Deer Lake, the Basin, and the Ponds, however over the past week they have hardened up nicely. You may experience some slushy areas on these as the temps increase throughout the day. There should be some soft snow on top of the crust but there may not be great tracks across them. The crossings are well marked with pine boughs. The entrances onto the crossings though are in good shape and should hold up well.
In Ishpeming we added some additional Ks this year. As you leave the stadium you will have a pretty flat and slight downhill for approximately 1 km. After this you will have a pretty long climb to the top of the course before flattening out into a long downhill recovery. From there you will turn back toward the stadium before looping back behind the start line before heading out toward Deer Lake. There will be an Aid Station at the top of the hill before you head down to Deer Lake at approximately 4 km.
As you get to the Half Way point of the course there is the historical Aid station before you cross the road into the Half Noque start area. We will be utilizing the bypass again this year as in years previous. The Half Noque will stay right and the Full Noque will stay left. This is clearly marked as well. This is to alleviate congestion on the trail.
The final change this year is that we will again be utilizing more of the trails at our Forestville Trail Head area. Last year there was a lot of positive feedback surrounding enjoying some new trails, so we listened and decided to incorporate them further into our race course. You will experience some new trails with a variation of dissents and climbs. Eventually you will leave the Forestville Trail System just like in years past on your way to the finish. This bottom section of the course will be a mad race to the finish. There is lots of recovery and the trail is in good shape, so we anticipate racers will be flying into the finish.
We look forward to seeing everyone and we would like to thank you for having the Noquemanon Ski Marathon on your calendar for another year.
Respectfully,
Jason Rolling
Noquemanon Ski Marathon
Race Director