Lumberjack Classic is on thin snow

The Jaycees ice fishing contest is in peril because of lack of ice. Now another fixture on the Brainerd winter sports calendar is in jeopardy because of lack of snow.

The Lumberjack Classic, a cross country ski race that has taken place at Northland Arboretum all but once in the past 26 years, might run aground -- literally -- because of poor trail conditions. A lack of snow has the ski trails in rough shape. Brainerd High School has canceled two of three races scheduled for the arboretum and now the Lumberjack Classic is on thin snow.

"Tentatively the race is still on," race director Chad Turcotte said. "There's snow in the forecast so we're still hopeful."

The race board met Monday to decide the fate of the race, but put off a final decision for another week.

"We heard we might get an inch or two of snow this weekend," Turcotte said. "If that happens it won't be a problem. If we don't get more snow we'll have to call (the race) to keep people from driving long distances."

Trail groomers have taken snow from the woods and patched two bare spots on the trail, Turcotte said.

The classic is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 3 with a 1-kilometer kid's race beginning at 10:30 a.m., classic races (6- and 16-kilometer) at 11 a.m. and skate races (6- and 16-kilometer) at 12 noon.

Two people have signed up so far, but Turcotte said he isn't discouraged because last year just 20 of 106 participants pre-registered.

"We originally said Thursday would be the cutoff date," Turcotte said. "But when we heard there was snow in the forecast we decided to wait until Monday."