Snowmakers turn parking lot into an outhouse race course

In a normal winter, the Village of Lake George aims to keep their parking lots free of snow, but this has not been a normal winter. Above average temperatures have left Lake George unfrozen, pushing the Winter Carnival’s outhouse races off the lake and into the Beach Road parking lot.

Converting the asphalt to a slick race track posed a problem for carnival planners. Enter the snowmaking crew from Tubby Tubes who have been engaged by the Lake George Winter Carnival Committee to turn a 15,000 square foot section of asphalt into a snow-covered race course. Tubby Tubes of Lake Luzerne operates a summer water slide park and offers lazy river tubing on the Hudson. In the winter their Lake Avenue business becomes a snow tube park and they own the snowmaking equipment much in demand this winter.

A big, blue, Tubby Tubes bus pulled into the Village late Thursday afternoon and set up in the shadow of Fort William Henry. Drawing from a fire hydrant, the snow gun changed seven and a half gallons of water a minute into the light powder Mother Nature has neglected to send. A fine mist of water crystallized into a plume of snow that overnight brought winter to Beach Road. “This is how we make weather,” snowmaker Phil Normandin explained.

By dawn Friday morning a mound of snow had grown in the East end of the parking lot and, as the sun rose from behind French Mountain, the snow gun continued its output. Per Normandin, the wind proved to be a problem overnight, carrying away some of their product, but they will continue as long as the temperature holds.

Once the snowmakers pack up, The Village of Lake George Public works Department will move in with a front-end loader to level the snow. Using a groomer, pulled by a snowmobile, they will create a race course for Saturday’s outhouse races, according to Street Department Supervisor Dave Harrington.

This signature race of the Lake George Winter Carnival first ran in 1983, an invention of the Carnival Committee as they sought to add a unique event to their schedule. The outhouse race requires teams of 5- two to push, two to pull, and one to sit on the pot. It has become fiercely competitive over the years.

The Lake George Winter Carnival begins with Opening Ceremonies Saturday, February 4, at noon in Shepard Park. The outhouse races are scheduled to follow at 12:30pm. The Lake George Winter Carnival runs every weekend through the month of February.