Dozens of Ski to Sea athletes participating in the canoe and cyclocross legs of the competition will be passing through the Ferndale area for much of the day, Sunday, May 27th. And, many locals will be lined up to cheer them on during what is expected to be mostly sunny day with high temperatures around 70°.
The race is scheduled to begin up on Mount Baker at 7:30am. After the preceding cross-country ski, downhill ski/snowboard, cross-country ski, running and road bike legs, athletes paddling down the Nooksack River in the canoe leg typically begin arriving in the Ferndale area around noon and continue for several hours following.
The canoeists will paddle to the beach on the east side of the Nooksack River at Hovander Park (south of Main Street and the WDFW boat launch). They will need to pull their canoes some distance from the water before they are allowed to hand their team’s chip to the cyclocross bike rider.
Cyclocross riders will head north through the grassy fields of Hovander Homestead Park to Main Street and then follow a path behind businesses on the south side of Main Street until reaching LaBounty Drive. The riders will continue south behind the businesses on LaBounty Drive and from there they head into Bellingham.
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There are many vantage points in Ferndale from which to view these two exciting legs of this year’s Sea to Ski Race. They include the following.
To watch the canoeists come down the river:
- VanderYacht Park (west side of the river)
- Main Street bridge (aka Pioneer Bridge)
- The park area at the Carnation Oxford Building (east side of the river).
- Centennial Riverwalk Park (west side of the river) provides a great view up and downstream as the canoeists pass.
- The canoe leg’s landing beach at Hovander Homestead Park (east side of the river) is a busy place but you will get to see the spills and chills as the canoeists attempt to climb out and haul their canoes out at the end of their exhausting leg.
To watch the cyclocross riders:
- The Hovander Homestead Park trail long the west side of the off-leash dog park area
- Behind Walgreen Drugs and Haggen Foods
- On Nordic Place as riders navigate their way through the vacant lots toward LaBounty
Below is a map provided by race organizers that details the path of each race leg.