Greetings SC40 peeps! We finished marking the course this afternoon and wanted to share some photos and a general course update with you.
We drove the entire course on the Kubota today and we confirmed that there is a solid 1-2” of snow throughout. This should be enough to pull a sled on, however we make no promises that it won’t get beat up a bit on rocks, roots, and gravel. We’ve never used anything other than $10 farm-supply-store sleds for our rigs, so we’ve never really cared too much about them getting banged around.
Underneath this coating of snow is frozen horse trail for most of the course. It’s hard, bumpy, and rutted. Bikers should consider doing a quick test ride and see where you want your air pressure to be. Overall though it should move pretty quick and there won’t be anything like the soft, sloggy snow of last year.
When doing our course marking we decided to bring people down St. John’s Road after all. This gravel road has a fair coating of snow on it, and pulling a sled should be more than possible. Between this road and a smooth paved-but-snowy road beforehand, sleds may take a little abuse. With how bumpy the horse trail is, though, we hope that these roads give you a respite and allow you to open up a little.
The course is marked as usual with our reflective signs and driveway stakes. We don’t do a ton of marking, but we ensure that when you reach critical turns you will always know where to go. The only point where people might get confused is on the short 2-way out and back section to the Crooked Creek Loop, but there’s lots of signage so you shouldn’t have too much trouble.
The weather is certainly going to be cold. Temperatures will be in the single digits (F) about zero until around 1am when things will start to plummet to around -7ºF to -10ºF. The wind will also be a factor with gusts up to 25mph.
This is what winter ultras are about, though: learning how to cope in extreme conditions, and maybe even thrive. Pack your extra layers, manage your sweat, manage your feet (of special note for bikers), and you’ll make it through just fine. There’s a fair bit of tree cover to protect you from the wind, but there are sections where you will be exposed and will need to be prepared to cover up.
Once again a huge thanks to our volunteers who are making this all happen. They’re going to be out there in the cold just like you are, so make sure to thank them whenever you can.
That’s all for now. We’re excited to get this going and we can’t want to make our fifth year of SC40 one of the best yet!
St Croix Winter Ultra 