JUNIOR POLAR BEARS: KANDAHAR HOSTS...FRONT ROW: Charlie Uzdavinis, Cedric Barkauskas, Tyler Kane, Thomas Levi, Matt Parent, Shelby Townsend, Hannah Kane, Sydney Payne, Lauren Beckingham, and Logan Hodge. BACK ROW: Alex Sutherland, Madeline Prichard, Chloe Barkauskas, Trevor Greene, Alex DiOrio, Julie Brosemer, Karleigh Hollister, Alexis Hollister, Laura Levi, Calvin Barkauskas, George Uzdavinis, Alexander Fieteau, Wyatt Beckingham, and Blake Greene. Courtesy photo
The Polar Bear Ski Club hosted over 200 racers and their families for the Kandahar Ski Race at McCauley Mountain on Saturday and Sunday, February 25 and 26, and according to event co-organizer Andrea Hollister, the race was a tremendous success.
“We were blessed with Mother Nature giving us that big dumping of snow on Saturday—it was amazing. And then the sunny day on Sunday was even better,” Hollister said.
This was the first year the Polar Bears have played host to the Kandahar Race, which gave many of the racers, their coaches, and their families, a first opportunity to visit Old Forge, and to ski the challenging slopes of McCauley.
“I am also from a small ski area, so I could tell the whole community committed to this race. There were little goodie bags for the kids and other personal touches. That’s the kind of stuff that makes this such a great family sport,” said Jeff Andrews of Cazenovia.Andrews, who is affiliated with the Toggenberg Ski Area and its ski programs, said his two sons, Joshua, 14, and Jameson, 10, took part in the Kandahar race.
But it was more than the goodie bags and free ice cream for skiers, and reasonable lift ticket prices for the racers’ parents that made for a great race.
Many, like Hollister and Andrews, felt that the organization of the race and the utilization of McCauley’s new yurt really added to the weekend’s success.
“When they came into the yurt, people couldn’t say enough about how well organized the event was compared to previous years, and how nicely it was set up,” Hollister said.
“The yurt really helped make the whole event very streamlined because there was a center point of information,” Andrews said.
John Brod, head coach at Snowridge, brought his team to compete at the Kandahar Race, and was equally pleased with the organization of the event.
“Congratulations Polar Bears—you guys did a great job! I heard nothing but compliments, not only about the winter wonderland, great weather and skiing, but also about the organization and smoothness of the event. It takes a ton of planning to pull an event like this off,” he said.
And Andrews, who said his only other experience in the area was during the summer at Water Safari, said he will certainly make another winter trip to Old Forge and McCauley Mountain.
“I loved the area, it was great—and the people made us feel very welcome. Sometimes at races we get the feeling that we are taking up space on the hill, or taking up resources. We didn’t get that feeling at all this weekend,” he said.
