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Minnesota Stories:
The four seasons are what define the Minnesota Experience – and that includes a winter of reliable snow, deep cold and all of the associated outdoor traditions from ice fishing to skiing. But in recent years, the face of Minnesota winter has changed. Snow cover has been thinner, ice cover less dependable, and temperatures have warmed above long-term norms. Conservation Minnesota talked to several winter event promoters proud of their work but wondering what Minnesota’s future winters hold.
The U.S. Pond Hockey Championships
Fred Haberman glows when sharing his memories about the first two years of the United States Pond Hockey Championships. “One of the most magical moments in my life…was the first day we started our tournament. It was 8 a.m., the sun had just come out. A bullhorn blew, and suddenly 50 teams started playing from 30 states. They had just joined the Minnesota tradition. People came up to me and said, ‘This is one of the great days of my life.’ They were thanking me, and I believe all of the people who put this tournament together, thanking us for reminding them of the pure bliss they enjoyed being out in the elements as a child.”
Entering its third year of competition in 2008, the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, played on Minneapolis lakes, has won international fame and attracted hundreds of teams, thousands of players, and tens of thousands of spectators. But thin ice forced a change of venue last year from Lake Calhoun to Lake Nokomis, a smaller lake with more reliable ice.
“We were about to do it on Lake Calhoun, and we noticed that there was open water,” says event commissioner and co-founder Haberman. “Three weeks prior to the tournament, we had to move it to Lake Nokomis.”
A thaw-induced cancellation would have been a shame. “Outdoor hockey, put simply, is Minnesota,” said one Twin Cities commentator in the buildup for the event.
The first year, 25 rinks on Lake Calhoun were flooded for more than 1,000 players on 118 teams. Teams competed from as far away as New York and players ranged from those with professional and college experience to “weekend warriors” and in age from childhood to senior citizens. The 2007 event drew 200 teams. Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Governor Wendell Anderson have both put on skates to participate.
The inspiration for the tournament, Haberman says, came from a rink he and friends built on Minnehaha Creek behind his home. “Literally, kids age 3, kids age 80 would come out and play hockey,” he marvels. Haberman, a Wisconsin native, says he’s found, “What Harlem is to basketball, Lake of the Isles is to hockey. And, all these amazing hockey players were coming together, all different ages. We were playing without any coaches, without any pressure, and I found later this is a legacy, this is a Minnesota tradition.”
The only obstacle in the way of further success is the uncertainty of the cold. “Just as the polar caps are receding, my hair is receding every winter because I’m concerned about the weather,” Haberman jokes. “We’ve been on thin ice, so
to speak.”
“We all have to do our part to help curb this horrible trend that is global warming. It starts with each of us thinking about and acting upon what we think is best for the earth.”
The 2008 U.S. Pond Hockey Championships took place January 18-20, 2008 on Lake Nokomis. For more information: www.uspondhockey.com/
The Forest Lake Ice Fishing Tournament
“I’m heartbroken,” organizer Jason Green said in October when an event with more than two decades of tradition, the Golden Rainbow Ice Fishing Contest at Forest Lake, was cancelled.
The reason: unreliable ice. In three of the past five years, poor ice forced its cancellation.
The warming trend brought an end to an event that in successful (cold weather) years attracted 6,000 to 10,000 anglers, making it one of the largest fishing tournaments in the U.S. The contest had raised up to $80,000 a year for charity. The 2007 cancellation, though, cost the Hopkins Area Jaycees, contest sponsors, about $70,000.
Two Forest Lake men have formed a corporation to launch a replacement event with sponsorship from Forest Lake VFW Post 4210. Scheduled for February 16, it’s called the Fishapolooza Ice Fishing Contest and will offer more than $100,000 in cash and prizes. For more information: www.icefishingforestlake.com
In a news release announcing the end of the Forest Lakes Golden Rainbow, the Hopkins Area Jaycees called the event “Minnesota’s Original.” The Golden Rainbow has set the stage on how contests should be run and what draws the most anglers to the frozen tundra in the dead of winter…Over the past several years the contest has battled Mother Nature and poor ice conditions causing numerous cancellations. Like any Minnesota business that is based around tourism, the weather can make or break you.
“It is with deep sadness that this decision is made to end a dynasty.”
The City of Lakes Loppet
After five years, one of the nation’s great urban cross country ski races is on solid ground – as long as the snow holds. For the 35-kilometer freestyle ski race in Minneapolis – one of seven events on a weekend including sprints and kids’ races – thousands of skiers start at Theodore Wirth Park, ski through woods, over parkways and across lakes to a dramatic finish before cheering crowds on the streets of Uptown Minneapolis.
But because of warmer winters, it hasn’t been easy, says City of Lakes Ski Foundation executive director John Munger.
“Well, we’re going into our sixth year with this event now. Every year has been a challenge,” Munger remembers. The first year, after little snow through most of January, “We ended up using an ice grinder, it makes the ice into a snow-like substance you can ski on. We ended up getting two inches of snow right at the end and managed to put the event on.”
In the Loppet’s second year, conditions were satisfactory but in the third, “three straight days of 50-plus-degree weather with onslaughts of rain” cancelled the event. The fourth year, more 50-plus-degree weather again menaced the Loppet, but last-minute snow saved the weekend. In 2007, little snow fell, but volunteers helped out – by shoveling snow to make an acceptable course. “We had in the neighborhood of 200-250 volunteers each of the last two, three years. I give some credit to the media around here, it’s a great media story: ‘How are these guys going to put on a ski race when there’s no snow, or this [little] snow?
Reflecting on the experience, Munger says, “I’ve been skiing in Minnesota since I was, I don’t know, eight years old, and racing since I was 13 or 14. This is not the same weather pattern we’ve always had. The key to skiing in Minnesota has always been that it’s cold enough to maintain the snow that’s on the ground.”
Despite the lack of snow some years, the Loppet wins favorable reviews from skiers. Speaking of the 2006 race, skier Colin Rodgers said, “Not the best conditions by far but the organizers did a pretty impressive job with the amount of snow that they had. All in all it was a pretty exciting race. I personally did not have it going on this weekend, but it was exciting skiing in the back end of the lead pack just trying to hang on through all of the windy wooded trails.”
Munger says, “So my sense is that there has been a real change in what you can expect in weather patterns in Minnesota, and it’s certainly affecting our sport . From what I know about global warming type of things, we’re in a place that’s unfortunately primed and ready to have some of the most dramatic effects from global warming.”
Munger is clear on what should be done to address climate change: “I think one of the great things about our country is when you unleash people to be innovative here, we can be one of the most…problem-solving countries in the world. We haven’t done that yet.” He suggests tax and regulatory changes to foster entrepreneurship.
The 2007 Loppet events drew more than 1,700 registrants. The 2008 events took place February 2 and 3. For more information: http://www.cityoflakesloppet.org/
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