Winter Carnival Sports

X-C ski racing at Dewey Mountain. Photo by Mark Kurtz Photography.

The Winter Carnival offers a fascinating array of sporting events, including traditional winter sports such as snowshoeing and nordic ski raceing at the Dewey Mountain Cross-Country Ski Center, innertube and alpine ski races down the slopes of Mount Pisgah, skating races and hockey games at the Saranac Lake Civic Center.  In addition, there are a series of non-traditional winter sports such as volleyball played in knee-deep snow, softball played on snowshoes, Ultimate Frisbee Games, Broomball, as well as an exhibition of curling and woodsmen’s logging skills.

“Carnival Sport Applications”

Curling

The Winter Carnival Curling Exhibition on Lake Flower. Photo by Mark Kurtz Photography

Played by two teams of four players each on a rectangular sheet of ice, teams take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones down the ice towards the target (called the house). Two sweepers with brooms accompany each rock and use timing and their best judgment, along with direction from their teammates, to help direct the stones to their resting place. The complex nature of stone placement and shot selection has led some to refer to curling as “chess on ice.”

Broomball

A distant relative of ice hockey, Broomball is played by two teams consisting of a goaltender and five others. Players hit a small ball around the ice with a stick called a “broom”, a wooden or aluminum shaft with a rubber-molded triangular head similar in shape to that of a regular broom. Players wear special rubber-soled shoes instead of skates, and the ice is prepared in such a way that it is smooth and dry to improve traction.

Ultimate Frisbee

Teams of seven players compete in the Ultimate Frisbee Toss held in a field of snow. Basics of the games are discussed an hour or so before the games begin.  We’ll make teams from people that show up, or you can come with a group of at least seven people to make your own team.  All ages welcome and no experience is necessary.