Discussion: Permit Confirmed for Harriman Event March 14

The park have confirmed the permit for this event so its a go. Looking forward to seeing folks in the woods. Rumor has it that the juniors are running a training event in Harriman that weekend and are going to come along.

Quick reminder that this is bare bones so come with low expectations and warm clothes and I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
J.

As a reminder, the event will take place on Saturday, March 14, 2015.

Yup, the North East juniors will be training at Harriman on the same day as the meet, and the courses will be open to all for a small price. I will post some more details once Jeremy sends me the map :)

Just out of curiosity, how much snow on the ground in Harriman right now?

A lot ^

Nearest stations are reporting 10-15" NOAA Northeast Snow Analysis

Nicely done, Jeremy. Glad to see Harriman get used for official events.

It's on my calendar!

snow is closer to 15" with much deeper drifts. Right now the park is seeing lots of snowshoes and xc action. Great snow conditions. Looks like rain followed by cold this weekend so the snow may become hard packed. It this does happen, running in Harriman is amazing if you use micro spikes. All those ankle twisting small boulders disappear.

So how is it looking up there now? I'm looking at a snow depth map that indicates around 15-20 inches of snow on the ground and a forecast for this week with highs in low 40s and slight chance of rain Tuesday. So probably some melt and consolidation this week but realistically what do locals foresee for running conditions?

We're considering driving down for this one but we could also just stick around and ski some more. (We do have micro spikes if it really comes to that.)

Weathar forecast suggests there will be lots of melting before Saturday.

We were in Saxon Woods yesterday (closer to NYC) and conditions were not good in the woods - not enough crust for snow shoes to be of much help and too deep to just power through. I am hoping for a decend amount of melt and consolidation this week but I still think it's going to be pretty tough out there on Saturday.

Will the event happen regardless of snow conditions or do the organizers anticipate making a "go-no go" decision at some point?

I was in Serling forest which is just next to harriman over this weekend. We went snowshoeing and did some exciting back county XC skiing in amazing conditions. There are a very deep pockets of snow - over two feet deep. Walking without skis or snowshoes was really out of the qestion.
We are starting to see melt and sunny southern slopes are starting to show bare spots but unless we have a huge warm up and lots of rain, there will be a lot of snow this weekend.

Carl, I can't speak for Jeremy and the HVO meet, but I will be at Silvermine on Saturday even if the snow is still very deep. The plan will be very short training exercises, taking turns to break trail, and lots of snacks and hot drinks in between.

The only thing that will prevent me going is dangerous travel plans, and the current forecast suggests there may be some kind of ice falling from the sky. If this looks bad enough to make travel dangerous, I will cancel and post a message here on Friday afternoon. Hopefully the forecast mellows, it seems to change every few hours at the moment anyway!

Lots of melt yesterday in Ward Pound Ridge (about 25miles away and similar temperature forecast as Harriman) and more expected Friday. Rain starts after midnight Fri in Harriman with temp above freezing so that should wash more snow away. However there are still some deep (18") drifts.

Maybe the warm weather will bring Jeremy out of hibernation and he will go out and map the deeper areas of snow (dark white?)

This afternoon's Terra/MODIS pass of the northeast:


Other views of this pass here.

A bit slow loading today. All the daily Terra and Aqua quicklooks can be found here. Click on the "Graphical" link for each pass to get clickable thumbnails. Passes with VIS are in color.

How is it looking for travel? (Speaking as a parent of a 17-year-old who will be driving herself to the event...)

I have not been into the park itself since Sunday but by house is just 1K from the south western tip of the park in the hudson valley about 400 feet lower in elevation. Here is what I am observing: Steep slopes in the park with a strong southern exposure have 50% coverage. Western slopes have 75%.
The woods around my house have 100% coverage with a depth of 6 inches in sunnier spots. Much deeper pocket abound. From my experience, if there is this much snow at our house, there will be several more inches in the park. I bet that northen slopes can still have a foot of snow.
We are expecting periods of heavy rain starting around midnight tonight and sticking around all day tomorrow. High will be in the mid 40's.
If you are coming, you should plan to be running around in farily deep slush in steady rain and cool air. If you dress accordingly and bring plenty of extra clothes, you will have quite a unique and memorable day in Harriman.

Are you a used car salesman in another life Bernard?! :)

Hey Bernie, remember when we did a West Point Extreme-O in slushy conditions like that?

Just love being out in extreme weather!!! I believe there are others like me.

JJ - I do remeber that! We should get extreme-o events going again. They were pretty fun.

BTW - a great way to keep your feet warm and fairly dry when running in slush is to use a plastic shopping bag as an inexpensive, disposable waterproof liner sock. Its a very effective trick I learnt from Boris and his dad many, many years ago. I use it regurlarly.

When I was in elementary school, it was common for kids to wear bread bags inside their boots in the winter.

I did two of those Extreme-Os. The first one was the slush event, and it wasn't so bad. The second was so bungled by the organizers that it qualified as one of the two or three worst orienteering meets I've been to in my life, and I decided not to return (and thus skipped the third one).

DUE TO SNOW PACK CONDITIONS AND HEAVY RAIN IN THE FORECAST THIS EVENT HAS BEEN MOVED TO SUNDAY MARCH 15. ALL OTHER DETAILS REMAIN THE SAME. STARTS ARE AT SILVERMINE CAR PARK. SEE YOU IN THE WOODS.

THE JUNIOR TEAM ARE MOVING THEIR TRAINING TO SUNDAY AS WELL.

Just to confirm what Jeremy says - Junior Training will be moving to Sunday too!

Well, it looks like I will be experiencing the extreme conditions tomorrow on my own. If anyone wants to go out for a 10K harriman adventure tomorrow morning early, let me know.

NOTE REGISTRTION IS IN THE SILVERMINE MAIN CAR PARK!

Three Courses and a score-0 (90 minutes)
Course A - 6.2km
Course B - 8.0km
Course C - 11.75km

Starts between 11am and 1pm.