Attached are the revised maps for the 5/6 and 7/8 races on Sunday.

 

1.     Start out going NORTHEAST on MAIN ST/US-302/ME-113/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY toward PORTLAND ST/ME-5. Continue to follow MAIN ST/US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY.        Go 0.5 mi        

2.     Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto BRIDGTON RD/US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY. Continue to follow US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY. Go 14.4 mi.

3.     Turn SLIGHT LEFT onto US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY/MAIN ST.  Go 0.7  mi.

4.     Turn RIGHT onto PORTLAND ST/US-302/ME-117/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY. Continue to follow US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY.Go 22.0 mi

5.     Turn LEFT onto TANDBERG TRL/ME-115.  Go 3.0 mi      

6.     Turn LEFT onto US-202/ME-4/GRAY RD/ME 115.  Go 3.8 mi      

7.     Turn RIGHT onto ME-100/ME-115/ME-26/PORTLAND RD.       Go 0.0 mi

8.     Turn LEFT onto YARMOUTH RD/ME-115. Continue to follow ME-115.  Go 5.6 mi

9.     Turn RIGHT onto WALNUT HILL RD/ME-115.       Go 4.8 mi

10.  Turn RIGHT onto W ELM ST.       0.6 mi      

11.         Yarmouth High School is on the left, turn in the first driveway and park in the back.

 

Directions from Hotels to Starks Hill, Fryeburg, Maine:

 

1.     Start out going SOUTH on US-1. Go 2.7 mi        

2.     Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto ramp.

3.     Turn RIGHT onto MAIN ST/ME-115. Continue to follow ME-115. Go 5.2 mi

4.     Turn LEFT onto GRAY RD/ME-115. Continue to follow ME-115.  Go 5.6 mi

5.     Turn RIGHT onto ME-100/ME-115/ME-26/PORTLAND RD.  Go 0.0 mi

6.     Turn LEFT onto US-202/ME-115/ME-26A/ME-4/W GRAY RD. Continue to follow US-202/ME-115/ME-4/W GRAY RD.  GO 3.7 mi      

7.     Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto ME-115 S/TANDBERG TRL.       Go 3.0 mi      

8.     Turn RIGHT onto ROOSEVELT TRL/US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY/ME-35. Continue to follow US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY. Go 22.0 mi      

9.     Turn LEFT onto US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY/MAIN ST.  Go 0.7 mi.

10.  Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY/N HIGH ST. Continue to follow US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY.  Go 14.4 mi      

11.  Turn SLIGHT LEFT onto MAIN ST/US-302/ME-5/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY. Continue to follow MAIN ST/US-302/10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION HWY.  Go 0.5 mi      

12.  Turn Left on Oxford Street and follow the signs.

 

Dear Skiers and Families,

The countdown is on!  We are getting rain at the coast, but in Fryeburg,
they have been getting both snow and rain with 4-6 inches of snow
predicted for tonight.  Let's cross our fingers, do the snow dance, or
whatever we can do to get the snow.

The venue is great, the folks in Fryeburg have been VERY helpful and
everything is coming together.

A few notes for you:

--The parking is pretty slim right by the venue and as you drive down, it
is a bit ugly--you won't be thinking you are driving to a ski venue, but
follow the directions and you will come out into a great stadium area.
--We will have shuttles so that you can drop off stuff and most of your
family at Starks Hill, then drive up to Fryeburg Academy (1 mile) to park
where you can pick up a shuttle back to Starks Hill.
--With the temperatures higher than freezing and a mixture of snow and
rain, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE LET THE SNOW DRAIN AND NOT SKI THE
COURSES ON FRIDAY!  If we let the snow set up, it will make for much
better skiing on Saturday and Sunday.
--There will be food available for sale at the site, provided by one of
the booster groups in Fryeburg.
--There is no power, so if you want electricity, you will need to bring a
generator.
--We will have some smaller tents, but no huge heated tent.  Instead, you
can take the shuttle back to Fryeburg Academy and warm up inside their
athletic building.
--If you are not staying in Freeport and are planning to come in the
morning on Saturday, you can pick up goodie bags and bibs from your
district chair OR just come to the NENSA tent.
--As you probably know, the theme is "Ski the Wave."  Maybe we should have
had it be "Ski the Polar Arctic Snowy North" and we would have been in
better shape!

We are all looking forward to seeing you and look forward to a great
festival.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Ted Hall
Festival Co-chair

With the wet snow and rain, we HAVE to preserve the snow so that we have it for the festival.  Please DO NOT come and ski the courses on Friday.  We want the water to drain out of the snow and for things to cool down so that we can groom in the wee hours of Saturday morning.  Please spread the word...no skiing on the course on Friday!!

Please plan to drop off skiers, families, and stuff at the venue and then drive back to Fryeburg Academy (about 5 minutes back to town) to park.  A shuttle bus will be running all day.  There will also be space available to get warm if needed at Fryeburg Academy.

Parking is VERY limited at the site, so take advantage of the drive in and drop off option.

 Dear Bill Koch Festival Participants,

We realize that some of you may be changing your travel plans to better
accommodate the new festival site at Fryeburg.

If it turns out that you and your family will no longer be able to make
the pasta dinner and relay awards, we will be able to refund the full
amount for those pasta dinners IF I RECEIVE AN EMAIL FROM YOU BY WEDNESDAY
MORNING AT 8:00 AM.

If you want to cancel your reservation for the pasta dinner, please simply
email me at ted_hall@earthlink.net, and list the name(s) of your skiers and indicate
"PLEASE CANCEL PASTA DINNERS."  We will provide the refunds at the
festival site on Saturday at or near the NENSA tent.

We do hope that most of you can attend the dinner and awards.  We will
have a raffle for some very cool prizes including a Ski Erg machine from
Concept Two, lots of great Toko poles, Ski Go irons, some nice fleece
clothing from Horny Toad and Craft, and others.

I will continue to keep you posted throughout the week.

Ted Hall

Dear BKL Skiers and Families,

In an effort to keep you well informed about the upcoming festival, we
will continue to send emails throughout the week.

Since we have received lots of questions since last night, I want everyone
to know that we are very excited to have the venue and the snow at
Fryeburg at Starks Hill.

We are committed to having a FULL festival there with everything that was
originally planned.  That means we will still have beach-themed games, we
will still have the mini-marathon running simultaneously with the relays,
we will still have an announcer and music, we will still have food and
drink available, we will still run quality relay and individual races, and
all of our youth skiers will definitely have a great time as they always
do at the festivals.

Throughout the week, I will continue to update you as we adjust the
schedule, post maps and directions, and generally provide you with lots of
information.

We are excited about hosting the festival and we are going to make it
work!!

Ted Hall
Festival Co-Chair

Dear Bill Koch Festival Skiers and Families,

After spending the weekend getting updated weather and trail information,
we had another conference call tonight to talk about contingency plans for
the festival next weekend.

At this point, we are moving ahead with plans to move the festival to
Starks Hill in Fryeburg, Maine.  If we do get enough snow from a possible
mid-week storm, we will assess whether we can move back to Pineland, but
at this point, we are putting all of the plans in place to run the
festival in Fryeburg.

I skied at the trails in Fryeburg this morning and they have good snow
that will definitely make it through the week.  This winter, this location
has been the primary location for many of our local high school and middle
school races, including the state middle school championship and the
Western Maine high school championship.

The snow is great in Fryeburg, but the infrastructure is certainly not as
good as at Pineland.  We are working on plans for shelter and parking. The
stadium area is great, with plenty of room for district tents and a great
spectating area for the relay and individual events.  The courses are
spectator friendly.

The festival headquarters will remain in the Freeport/Yarmouth area.  The
drive from the hotels in Freeport to Fryeburg is one hour and twenty
minutes (I timed it today!).  We will have the best directions for you
both on the website and in your packets.

Because of the additional travel time, we have decided that we will start
the races a bit later in the day.  Details of the schedule will be posted
later this week on the website.  We have also decided to change the format
for Saturday's relay to a freestyle race instead of classic.  The Sunday
race will remain a freestyle individual race.

The Festival Organizing Committee is committed to putting on a quality
festival and snow conditions are the key to a fun weekend.  This move to
Fryeburg will ensure that we have the snow we need.

Thanks for your patience as we get ready for the weekend.  I will keep you
posted throughout the week.

Ted Hall
Festival Co-chair