Lapland Lake Cross Country Ski and Vacation Center is nestled in a unique snow basin in New York’s southern Adirondack Mountains.
Here, what’s known as the "lake effect" - cold air blowing across the Great Lakes - continually funnels in snow all winter. There has been an average snowfall of over 11 feet during each of the last five seasons. This assures great cross country skiing from November through April.
Lapland Lake was founded by Olavi Hirvonen in 1978. Olavi, born to Finnish parents in Montreal, Canada, spent his formative years in Finland where he won his first ski race at age ten. Coming to the United States at 18, he continued his development as a Nordic ski racer, skiing for the U.S. Olympic team in the 1960 Olympics. As a racer, Olavi enjoyed success on the regional and national levels, but his longtime goal was to design and operate a cross country ski center.
The embodiment of his dream is now the four season resort that he and his wife Ann run.
Trails
There are 50 km of trails at Lapland Lake. 38km are marked and groomed for both classical and skate skiing. The remaining 12 km are left ungroomed and are marked for both snowshoeing and back country skiing. The trails are rated 30% Easier, 56% More Difficult, 9% Most difficult, and 5% Expert Only. The 132 mile ungroomed NYS Northville-Lake Placid trail is located less than a mile from Lapland Lake Center.Olavi personally oversees the trail grooming and attends to much of it himself using state-of-the-art grooming equipment including three snowcats: a German-engineered Pisten Bully 160D Wide Track Snowcat and two Finnish-designed Formatic F-4's. The Snowcats are equipped with power tillers and provide tracks and skating lanes in virtually all snow conditions.
Lessons
Lessons for all level of skiers in both the classical and skating techniques are available from PSIA certified instructors.
Rentals
There are over 350 sets of rental equipment available, both classic and skate, in mid-length and traditional lengths with Rotefella NNN bindings. Alpina and Rossignol boots are available, as are snowshoes from Tubbs, Havlicks, Little Bear and Redfeather.
Retail Shop
Lapland Lake has a fully stocked ski shop with clothing and a complete line of cross country gloves, hats, socks, liners, and accessories. New and "nearly new" equipment from major ski manufacturers including Alpina, Atomic, Exel, Fischer, Karhu, NNNII Rottefella, Peltonen and Rossignol are available and substantial discount pricing is offered on select new equipment all season long.There is a full line of waxes and ski base care supplies available. For those who have tried snowshoeing and decide to invest in a pair for hiking at home you can choose from any of the brands available for rental. You will also find a fully equipped repair shop for all cross country ski, binding, snowshoe and pole repairs.
Location and Hours
Lapland Lake Cross Country Ski Center is located at 139 Lapland Lake Road, in the Town of Benson, New York. Hours are 9:00am to 4:30pm daily. Sunday through Friday nights the lighted trail network is 2km in length for lodging guests along with tubing and ice-skating (the full 4km network is lighted on Saturdays for lodgers and the general public).
Lodging
Guest lodging accommodations include 10 trailside tupas (tupa is Finnish for housekeeping cottage) each with a living room, separate bedrooms with linens, bathroom with shower, and a completely furnished kitchen or kitchenette. Each unit has a woodstove with wood and supplies provided. Larger tupas are available for families and groups. Private rooms are available for rental in the property's original restored 1800's farmhouse, now the Lapin Tupa.
