Please take the time to visit the registration and information table at the Ski expo on Friday January 26th to get complete race-day details. All final details will be available at that time along with bus schedules, maps, etc.
Also, it will be important that participants visit the race website at
www.noquemanon.com
often to read the trail reports. The Noquemanon trail is unique and course conditions can vary greatly on different sections of the course and it can vary day by day. Current trail reports are available at the bottom of the race website and are marked with the date of the report. Our Facebook and Twitter page will have some updates as well so be sure to follow our channels for great content too.
Course Updates (1/25/18):
COURSE PLANS
- W
ith plenty of snow, and mild temperatures to start on Saturday
the Noquemanon in Marquette County will be the place to be - tell your friends!
On line registration closed 1/24 at midnight but in-person registration will be open on Friday night at the Ski Expo until 10:00pm (Eastern Time). There is no race day registration. The National Weather Service in Marquette is partnering with us this week to help provide race day forecasts and Saturday could be tricky temperature wise so be sure to follow along so you can wax accordingly. The Mid week forecast is included in this newsletter. Another will be provided to us Friday at Noon Eastern Time.
At this time we request your assistance in keeping this year’s race trail in race ready condition when you are in the area. Race grooming is scheduled to be completed late Thursday night and very early Friday morning and then we will leave it alone as temperatures on Friday are forecasted to be in the mid 40's and temperatures will also be above freezing all of Friday night across much of the Noquemanon trail.
We are asking all to refrain from walking, skiing or biking on any race trail sections from 12:01 AM this Friday January 26 through race day Saturday January 27. This includes the NTN Forestville trails
. Exceptions to this will be the Junior Noque skiers racing Friday afternoon/evening on the NTN Forestiville trails. Please pre-ski and wax test at other locations in the area to preserve the trail starting on Friday – Blueberry Ridge is a great close-by option. Thank you in advance for helping us provide everyone with the best course conditions possible. Signs are scheduled to be posted near the finish line at the Tourist Park Trailhead to attempt to keep walkers etc off of the trail. We will do what we can, but please note we will not be able to have anyone camp out all night to wrangle people that don't follow directions on signs.
We should note, this is not a "we're going to loose all of our snow" situation as we have great coverage throughout the entire network and could even absorb more days of uncommonly warm weather. This is just a grooming "don't destroy the trail quality for everyone" situation. We have notified all local media outlets as well for our local community members.
MEAD HILLS BYPASS
- We will not be using our brand new Mead Hills bypass route for the 24K Half Noque this year. Due to the terrain on the new section, it's newness, and the excavator ruts created during our very wet November (when the trail was put in) we are not planning to get enough snow on this section to put 500+ skiers on it
safely
. We will instead use our historical Mead Hills Bypass that returning skiers will know. We are disappointed that the brand new section won’t work out for us this year but we’ll have time to get that squared away this upcoming summer and use it for 2019.
***IMPORTANT***
T
here is no access to this bypass trail apart from race day. No pre-skiing is allowed as this is privately owned land. Gates to this section will be closed and locked. If you are skiing near the bypass prior to race day and the gate is open do not proceed - the only access we have to this trail prior to Saturday Jan 27th is for trail preparation. If you are found on this section of trail prior to race day you will be putting our organizations relationships with local land owners in jeopardy and you may be disqualified from the race with no refund.
FINISH LINE and FINISH LINE PARTY
-
A new finish line will be utilized this year at the "Log Yard" which is approximately 4K west of the Superior Dome. This new finish line allows the race organization to eliminate the last 4K section of the course that historically is the lowest in snow cover. This means busing needed to be provided from the finish line to the Superior Dome via a very short commute and all participants will continue to have access to the world-class dome facilities which includes access to locker rooms, hot showers, and saunas. These buses will be available to spectators from the Superior Dome as well! The finish line will include a DJ, an announcer, restrooms, coffee & espresso from
Velodrome Coffee Company
, a warming tent, and snow-lawn games! Spectators are invited to come out and support participants at the new finish line! We hope for a festive environment.
Parking is extremely limited at the Log Yard
– as mentioned above race organizers need spectators to utilize the buses from the Superior Dome to get to the finish line
. The new significant snow is good for the course, but not so great for this area in regards to car parking. Race organizers need to get buses, emergency vehicles, and aid station equipment in and out quickly. The buses will be looping. Spectator busing will be available starting at 10:00am from the west end of the Superior Dome. Watch for the signs in the dome! Please let us know what you think about the new finish line, after the event, in the participant survey.
Please note that no parking will be allowed on the road into the Log Yard either - this will block the road to the buses, emergency vehicles, and aid station members. We plan to have a live stream from the finish line to a screen in the Superior Dome as well for those that would rather be at the dome.
BUS SCHEDULE
- B
us schedules for hotels, start lines, and the finish line will be available at the Ski Expo/Bag Pickup. Please take a copy and make note of the times and locations. Our partner hotels have been provided with the bus schedule as well.
SHOWERS AND LOCKER ROOMS
- As always our facilities have great amenities. The Superior Dome has had a few changes recently so racers will want to be sure to follow signs to new showers, locker rooms, and (new this year) separate men's and women's saunas in the NMU PEIF building. The PEIF is connected to the Superior Dome by an enclosed walkway and is not a far walk. Drop your skis or snowshoes at the valet and take a shower or sauna to recover!
OTHER COURSE UPDATES
- The Deer Lake crossing, the Basin crossing, and the lower ponds will most likely have some slush that develops on the surface of the snow due to the significant warm-up forecasted to arrive Thursday night and the wet-heavy snow that arrived early this week. That does not mean there is a lack of ice on any water crossing...in fact there is a lot of ice out there and we are not dealing with ice with no snow on top (ski bases don't like ice without a covering of snow or something else). As mentioned grooming is planned for Thursday night/Friday morning and then our trail crew is going to leave it alone as the temperatures Friday night are not expected to drop below freezing - so, we will just have to see what happens. We, unfortunately, can only control so much, but that is a part of the Noquemanon and what makes it a rugged and wilderness ski epic. A big thank you goes out to our trail crews that have put in a lot of hours of hard work to prep these areas so they can be as good as possible. At this time, plan for some possible slush on top.
MAPS OF INTEREST
-
Maps will be available in print at the Ski Expo/Bag Pick-up
