If you are like me, which I'm sorry if you are, you don't do too much during the winter. Mainly because it's cold and your bed is nice and warm with hot chocolate waiting for you under the blankets! And now that Disney+ is here, forget about it!
This year I was able to get a new job working for an events company. They have several awesome outdoor events throughout the year. The first event up for the year is The Adirondack Pond Hockey Tournament. This was the second year it was held, and it got bigger and better than ever! This year they held the event on the beautiful Lake George during their Winter Carnival. Thankfully the lake froze thick enough to have the event! For way too long its was looking like it wasn't going to happen. Thankfully praying to the Ice Gods seemed to work and the second annual tournament was a huge success!
The best part of the whole event, in my opinion, was all the puppers who came to see what was going on! They were so cute and loving the weather with the wide-open space of the frozen lake! These puppers were so well behaved too. Well, for the most part. There was one little stinker that kept trying to steal the firewood. We kept asking if he was part bever at one point cause he was running off with it too!
Hockey players of all sizes were present throughout the whole event too. In between games some of the youngsters helped out clearing the rinks and taking their own shot at the goals. They were the biggest cheerleaders of the whole event! They helped a lot too with keeping score and puck retrieval. You would not believe how far those pucks can travel! We were still finding them as we were picking up the rinks off the ice.
Having the tournament during the Winter Carnival in Lake George gave the event a great backdrop. Bunch of people roaming around and checking out the games, while also enjoying the beautiful weather and walking around to breathe in the fresh mountain air. When walking around became too much, they came over to King Neptune's food booth for some awesome food and drinks. They were able to sit around the fire as well to check out the games and other activities on the ice. Like all the snowmobilers racing and having a good time. Some of them even took a break from riding to see what was going on with us. Apparently, in upstate New York, hockey brings everyone together!
Towards the end of February, in the mountains on a frozen lake, you'd think your bed is the warmest place. That was not the case this weekend. It was in the low 40's for almost the whole time with barely a cloud in the sky! It was beautiful to walk around in and just stand around watching the games play. At one point you'd want to take your jacket off just to stop sweating! However, the conditions of the ice weren't that great for skating. It looked like they were running with their skates on just to be able to play. We felt bad that the conditions were that poor for playing. Next year we'll have to be more specific when praying to the Ice Gods!
This was truly a fun event to be a part of. It was totally worth it to leave the blankets behind and get the most awkward sun/windburn of my life (just my face got color and there was an obvious line on my forehead from the hat). I was able to get some neat shots of the event and it made me wanting more! If you haven't yet, look the tournament up on Facebook and like it. I'm expecting next year to be bigger and better than ever!
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