A: If you're staying with the group you'll probably have to share. If you have to have your own space you'll need to reserve your own room. The rooms and cabins are priced by Tiers. Check out the Rates Page for an explanation. http://www.maplelag.com/resort/rates Some are designed for a single couple but most have a bunch of bunks for a group of people.
Q: What do you do there?
A: We ski, we eat, we drink, we hot tub and we do The Plunge. There's also the Saturday night dance, the Sunday night talent show, drunk midnight skiing, a huge library with books and puzzles, a game room with Foosball and ping-pong, a common area to play games, and general relaxing. At any time you can hang out with people or go off and get some alone time, whatever you feel like. Plus, if you're not a big skier there's plenty of other activities to do up there. http://www.maplelag.com/resort/activities
Q: Where exactly is this place?
A: Maplelag is located in Becker County, 20 miles northeast of Detroit Lakes, MN, and about one hour northeast of Fargo-Moorhead. It is four and a half hours northwest of Mpls/St. Paul and four hours south of Winnipeg and four hours east of Bismarck. Located on Little Sugarbush Lake in a maple-basswood climax forest, prairie lands are just five miles west, with no forests to speak of until the Rockies. To the east and north, you will find a mix of aspen, hardwood and pine stands. Itasca State Park (the source of the Mississippi River), is less than an hour away. And, it is half an hour to the Tamarack National Wildlife Refuge. Maplelag is located within the White Earth Reservation boundaries. The surrounding area, which includes Maplelag, was settled by Finnish pioneers around 1918.
Q: When do we go up there?
A: I have always gone up over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, from Friday to Monday afternoon. This means the exact dates change from year to year. To maximize your fun I strongly urge that you schedule your arrival to Maplelag for mid-Friday afternoon and arrange it so that you don't need to leave until after lunch on Monday afternoon.
Q: What do I wear to ski?
A: Conventional cold weather clothing like bulky parkas isn't suited to cross country skiing, as it constricts movement and generates excessive body heat. Once you get moving, you'll warm up and you don't want to get too sweaty. The trick is to retain warmth while allowing perspiration to evaporate. You get this by layering clothing to adjust heat loss to pace, terrain, temperature, and wind speed.
For skiing there are 3 basic layers. Base layer, middle layer(s) and wind layer. For the base, a synthetic base layer is best, but long underwear is fine too. The middle layer can be any sort of cotton you please. Sweat pants below, t-shirt and light shirt or fleece, or sweater up top. Finally some sort of wind layer, top and bottom. You can use downhill skiing pants and a regular jacket but that might get hot.
Slip on warm wool socks, base-layer pants, and a long-sleeve shirt then put on waterproof pants, a light fleece pullover, and a softshell or lightweight jacket over that. Wear a hat, mittens, sunglasses, and maybe a neck gaiter and you should be good to go.
A very general guide on how to dress for different temperatures:
Above 20°: base and light middle layers
10° to 20°: base and heavy middle (or two light) layers
-5° to 10°: base, light middle, and outer layers
Below -5°: base, heavy (or two light) and outer layersQ: How cold does it get up there?
A: Very cold. The average low in January for that part of Minnesota is -5° and temperatures dipping into the -30°'s with windchill's below -40° have occurred. Since I started going up in the early 90's I think that the average temperature has been right around 0°. This doesn't stop me or people from Texas, California, and Florida from skiing or taking the Plunge.
Q: What is The Plunge?
A: The Plunge is an annual tradition and a cure all for aches, pains, and hangovers. You simply sit in the sauna until you can't stand the heat any more, then run out to the lake (make sure you're wearing wool socks or out door sandals so your feet don't stick to the ice) and jump in the hole. Then you climb out, run like hell back to the sauna and do it again. Most people are totally freaked out before their first time, but everyone who goes loves it and multiple plunges are the norm.
Q: What do I bring?
A: -Long/Thermal underwear (at least 2 sets)
-Sweat pants (at least 2 sets)
-Light long sleeve shirts/fleeces/sweatshirt (at least 2 sets)
-Wool socks (at least 3 pair, this is important, you can wear cotton socks, but they will get super wet and don’t dry easily, plus when we take the plunge you cannot wear cotton socks or go barefoot, your feet will stick to the ice. Sports sandals like Keene’s or Teva’s are ok for the plunge too.)
-Ski pants/outer layer
-Ski Jacket/out layer
-Hat
-Neck Gaiter or Scarf (this is important, you have to have something to cover your face, especially if it is really cold outside. A neck gaiter is preferable because you can pull it up and down as you need to if your face gets cold, a scarf is more cumbersome but if that’s what you bring make sure it is long one, short scarves are very bad I know from experience).
-Good pair of mittens or gloves (this is really important, while skiing your hands will sweat more than you ever thought possible, and if your gloves/mittens suck your hands will not stay warm and you will be very miserable.)
-Sun Glasses and/or goggles (the glare from the snow can be very intense sometimes)
Most people also like to bring an iPod, a camera, a computer (yes, there's wifi), and snacks.
Q: What do we eat?
A: The food at Maplelag is awesome! We eat well but it's guilt free because there's so much skiing. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all served family style with as much as you want. There are Vegetarian and No Pork options to sign up for if you'd like. Breakfast has oatmeal, dry cereal, and bananas if you're in the mood and Sunday morning features an authentic Norwegian Smörgåsbord that never fails to satisfy. And to help keep you going between meals while skiing there are bottomless cookie jars, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cider.
Q: What is the deal with the Talent Show?
A: A lot of people really love to participate in this. If this is your first year at Maplelag you must do something for the talent show. If you feel there is nothing you could possibly do then you can be a member of the North Star Band, which opens and closes the talent show by playing a song and has a variety of instruments to choose from.
Q: What is Drunk Midnight Skiing?
A: It's exactly what it sounds like. We get drunk and then in the middle of the night we go out skiing along the "Oh shit, I think I broke my knee trail", a trail that changes yearly but usually includes Suicide Hill and the Toot. Some years the moon and stars light our way and some years you can't see anything, but it's always incredibly cold and fun!
Note: Drunk Midnight Skiing is not an officially sanctioned event at Maplelag. The Richards tolerate my antics because I have earned their trust over the years, please do not screw it up for the rest of us.
Q: How much booze should I bring?
A: I highly recommend that you bring what you want. This usually means 3 bottles of wine for dinner, a case of beer for the hot tub and after taking Plunge (make sure to bring plastic cups, no glass allowed in the hot tub), and a bottle of your favorite spirits and maybe something to mix it with.
A: I highly recommend that you bring what you want. This usually means 3 bottles of wine for dinner, a case of beer for the hot tub and after taking Plunge (make sure to bring plastic cups, no glass allowed in the hot tub), and a bottle of your favorite spirits and maybe something to mix it with.