Snowshoe Hare

[ Read: 2023 Snowshoe Hare Recap ]

The Snowshoe Hare at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge is an event celebrating snowshoeing in the Keweenaw. Because snowshoe hares are abundant throughout the Keweenaw, we are providing a brief educational program about their ecology.

Snowshoe Education: Iverson Snowshoes will be present with demonstration models of their UP-made, traditional snowshoes. For the novice snowshoers – learn what snowshoes are, the different types of snowshoes, snowshoe history, how to put them on, and how to use them. For more advanced snowshoers, try out and compare traditional and modern snowshoes.

Snowshoe Activities:

• • Access to over 10 km of groomed and packed trails for snowshoeing,
  • A 1.4 mile trail run and shorter kids (under 10) race.
  • A guided Snowshoe hike on one of the new Snowshoe Routes.
  • A guided moonlit snowshoe hike on the lodge’s trail system (at 7:00pm).

Schedule:

9:00am – Race registration begins (in the Outdoor Activity Center)

10:00am – Adult Snowshoe Loop Race

11:30am – Kids Snowshoe Race

12:00 – History of Snowshoeing – presentation Jim Baker of Iverson Snowshoes (in the Banquet Room)

1:30pm – Guided Snowshoe Hike with the OAC staff and geologist Erika Vye

3:30pm – Ecology/Nature presentation by Tom Oliver – Director, MTU Center for Science and Environmental Outreach (in the Banquet Room)

8:00pm – Guided Moonlit Snowshoe Hike: (reservations required)

Snowshoe Hare Snowshoe Race Details:

The purpose of the Snowshoe Hare Snowshoe Race is to provided a chance for people to experience the winter trails at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in a fun and competitive fashion. For some, this can also be the chance to try winter trail running.

Registration: Race registration begins at 9:00am in the Outdoor Activity Center. Participants will be asked to sign a liability waiver and will be issued a race number.

Race Rules: 

1. 1. The race will be a mass start for all adults.
   2. The course must be covered with both snowshoes on and the competitor must cross the finish line with both snowshoes firmly attached to his/her feet.
   3. Should the competitor lose a snowshoe during the race, he/she must step off the track and re-attach the snowshoe in order to finish the race.
   4. Competitors must follow the race course. Going off-course or using different trails for the purpose of short-cutting the race will be grounds for disqualification.

The kid’s race will be a short race  set up near the beginning of the adult race course and will only use a portion of the trail that is wide and groomed flat.

Prizes: Prizes will be gift certificates good towards the Lodge Life Shop and Lodging.

Race Course: The race course is 1.4 miles in length and will encompass a set of trails that will vary between wide, groomed trails to narrow, single-track, packed trails. The trails will traverse open areas and forest. Spectators who venture out along the course must wear snowshoes or cross country skis. All participants and spectators must stay off all of the golf course’s greens and tee boxes.

History of Snowshoeing: Jim Baker from Iverson Snowshoes will give a presentation about snowshoes and snowshoeing in the past and in the present. Topics will include an overview of historical methods and practices, early modernization developments, and current trends in the making of snowshoes and their uses as tools for survival, utility, recreation, and decoration.  The presentation will go over styles of snowshoes and their applications as well as methods of making both modern and traditional versions including a detailed description of Iverson’s process of making them right here in the Upper Peninsula.

Food and Beverages: For cuisine which is rustic, worldly, and centered around the theme of snowshoes

• • Throughout the day, Rabbit Sausage Soup will be available at the Little Cabin Café

We will also be offering Blackrocks’ Grand Rabbits beer, as part of the overall theme.

This event is free to resort guests and the general public to attend.