For Immediate Release: December 22, 2006
Contact:
Andy J. Flynn | Public Relations | Adirondack Park Agency
contact@apa.ny.gov | (518) 327-3000
PAUL SMITHS, NY – More changes are in store this winter for the 7th annual Chilly Ski Festival, including a new invitational chili cooking contest. The event is set for Sunday, Jan. 14, 2007 at the Adirondack Park Agency Visitor Interpretive Center (VIC) in Paul Smiths.
Skiing activities will remain the same for the upcoming Chilly Ski Festival. The major changes will occur in the event's other popular arena: the food.
The Wild Winter Chili Cooking Contest will return this year after a one-year absence; however, the cooking portion will not be open to the public for participation, as it was in the past.
"When we have a number of chili cooks involved in this contest, we have to be careful and prepare our chili in a New York State Department of Health-approved kitchen," said VIC Senior Public Information Specialist Andy Flynn. "Our first priority is food safety, and we want to make sure that the delicious chili we serve to the public is made according to state health standards."
Culinary contestants (VIC staff and volunteers) will be invited to cook their recipes the day before the festival at Adirondack Artisan Catering in Gabriels. As the Chilly Ski Festival begins the morning of Jan. 14, a handful of VIP judges will rate the many varieties of chili, and, starting at 11:30 a.m., the public will be able to purchase chili during the lunchtime concession. There will be more than a dozen recipes available.
"We are excited to have the chili cooking contest return to the Chilly Ski Festival," Flynn said. "Many visitors commented that they missed this portion of our festival last year, so I guess you could say the contest is back by popular demand."
The 2007 Chilly Ski Festival will also feature the second annual Ben & Jerry's Invitational Ice Cream Eating Contest, where local media celebrities will be invited to see who can eat a pint of ice cream the fastest. VIC staff had hoped to have public participation in the ice cream eating contest this year; however, it will remain an invitation-only event. The public is encouraged to stop by the VIC to witness this action-packed contest, which will be sponsored by Ben & Jerry's of Lake Placid.
The family-oriented Chilly Ski Festival has become one of the Adirondack Park's premier cross-country skiing events. It is part of the Adirondack Park Agency’s Wild Winter Weekend, held annually on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend. The Newcomb VIC hosts its own event that weekend: the Chilly Snowshoe Festival, Jan. 13.
"The Chilly Ski Festival is a time for us to highlight the VIC trail system while we promote the popular sport of cross-country skiing," Flynn said. "We bring professionals here to teach people how to ski and give them helpful tips."
There are activities for adults and children. Ski rentals and clinics will be offered throughout the day by outdoor recreation experts from the High Peaks Cyclery Mountain Adventure Center, of Lake Placid. A New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forest ranger will provide skiers with information about safe, low-impact backcountry recreation. And kids will find plenty to do at the children’s activities station.
Admission to the Chilly Ski Festival is $7 per person ($17 per family), and the entry fee includes ski rentals, hot beverages, attendance at the workshops and children's activities. People register at the door.
The Chilly Ski Festival is co-sponsored by the Adirondack Park Institute, the Adirondack Park Agency, Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Adirondack Artisan Catering, High Peaks Cyclery, and Ben & Jerry's of Lake Placid.
The New York State Adirondack Park Agency operates two VICs, in Paul Smiths and Newcomb, which serve as Adirondack Park HQ for parkwide interpretation. They are open year-round from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Christmas and Thanksgiving and offer a wide array of educational programs, miles of interpretive trails and visitor information services. Admission is free.
The Paul Smiths VIC is located 12 miles north of Saranac Lake on Route 30. For more information, call (518) 327-3000 or log on to the centers' Web site at www.adkvic.org.
Chilly Ski Festival SCHEDULE 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 14, 2007 Paul Smiths VIC
10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Ski rentals and skiing
11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Children's activities
11 a.m. Learn-to-Ski Workshop
11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Chili lunch concession
Noon Ski-waxing Clinic
1 p.m. Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Eating Contest
2 p.m. Learn-to-Ski Workshop