It’s been a busy month working on projects as we prepare for the next chapter at Maplelag after the fire on October 10th that destroyed the main lodge. The main focus has been renovating the Brant cabin which will be the new hub for day use and will include a store. We’ve tried to maintain the feel of the old lodge using signs we had kept in the maintenance shop. Our plan is to have the store ready for a “soft” opening by Laddies Loppet mountain bike race, which is to be held on Sunday of Labor Day weekend. We will post hours we plan to be open on the website and social media later this fall.
Once we begin and make progress on the next projects, adding kitchen units to the Candy Store, Six Swedes and enhancements to the Red and Orange cabooses, we will begin taking reservations. We appreciate everyone that has inquired about winter reservations. The loss of the main lodge has taken time to recover from, on many different aspects. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we navigate the next steps and restore energy, passion and commitment to serve our guests in this next chapter.
Entry to the Brant cabin which will be the new hub for day use and include the Maplelag store.August 18th, 2023.Exterior of the Brant cabin after a fresh and new color of paint! Sitting/lounge area in the Brant cabin for day users. Original painted trail signs on display in the Brant entry. Store area in the Brant cabin soon to be stocked with items including clothing and local artists. Eira, the “snow baby” wearing a Skida Hat. We are excited to carry Skida this coming winter in the store with a custom Maplelag hat! We discovered Skida recently and was able to visit the headquarters in Vermont which was a area of inspiration when we visited Nordic centers out East last winter and spring. Pure maple syrup harvested on the shores of Little Sugarbush lake will be available for sale. Pat and Amber staining and painting the Brant cabin. Other buildings on tap for a fresh look that will be a component in the next chapter will be the sauna, Sava Sauna cabin, Six Swedes cabin and Candy Store cabin.Remember the numbering system on the trail signs?The creative work of local artist Wendy Roy will be on display and for sale in the Brant cabin. Summer grooming on the ski trails. Once we begin and make progress on the next projects, adding kitchen units to the Candy Store, Six Swedes and enhancements to the Red and Orange caboose, we will begin taking reservations.
We are excited to be maintaining our tradition of hosting the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series race, the Laddies Loppet on Sunday of Labor Day weekend. This will be year 33 we have hosted the race making it one of the longest running events in the Midwest. Registration for the race can be found on the MNMBS website.
Start area for all races and access point to course for pre riding. Registration is in picnic shelter just to the left of the photo!
Hard to believe we are already in the middle of July and half of the summer has passed! July has been unseasonable cold, and up until a few weeks ago where we have received nearly 3″ of rain the past two weeks, very dry. Overall it has been a beautiful summer with some fantastic sunsets, starry skies and not too many fallen trees on the trails.
One of the many camping spaces available for the bike race weekend. The warming house in the background has been touched up and will be used as registration area for the bike race.
The weekend will obviously be a bit different this year with no lodge and the cross country race will be held on Sunday, like the other races in the series. There will be no short track race this year. We will not have any lodging available, at this point, but will allow camping like previous years. We are still working out details for food trucks and concessions but either way plan on a fun day of mountain biking and family fellowship, while racing on Maplelag’s signature singletrack.
Brant cabin renovation. Future store!
The biggest news to report is the start of remodeling on some of the cabins. This past week we began work in the Brant cabin to be used as a day lodge like it was this past winter. We plan to have a store and hope to have some items to sell by Labor Day bike race weekend. The store will feature the more popular clothing and we have plans to bring in some new items made by local artists. There will be no meal service at this time. It will be a work in progress. As difficult as it was, and we know for some of our guests as well, to change the look of the storied Brant cabin, moving forward we feel this action fits best our vision of the model moving forward considering all the parameters in our thought process.
Custom Maplelag coffee mugs crafted by local artist Mary Laabs.
Later this summer we will be remodeling in the cabins of Lapland, Candy Store, Six Swedes and also both cabooses. The above mentioned cabins we plan to rent for the upcoming winter season, possibly earlier depending on how construction goes. Since we are doing many of these projects “in house” it takes a bit more time but also allows us to make changes on the fly and craft and create as we think best. The above cabins are also on the slate to have a new paint job! Regarding taking reservations and booking these spaces, we will have more information available later this summer once we feel comfortable doing so based on the progress. We are doing much of the work ourselves as we mentioned.
Jonell painting in her future office!
We want to thank everyone again for their love, prayers and steadfast support. The next phase of Maplelag will be very different and change can be hard but we have to do what we feel is best for our interests and inspiration to best serve our guests. We look forward to seeing folks at Maplelag again soon! Enjoy the rest of the summer and we will update next month with hopefully a favorable progress report.
Another beautiful summer sunset on Little Sugarbush.
A Family Owned and Operated Destination Cross-Country Ski Center
