Candle Luminary Ski Event keeps Holiday Spirit Going
Four Season's Chalet-Hancock
HOUGHTON — The Christmas holiday may officially be over but there are still events that you can enjoy as a family. A Candle Luminary Ski is held every year in Houghton County the evening after Christmas.
If you have a love for sports and the holidays then we may have the perfect event for you. The Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club always sponsors the Candle Luminary Ski. Since you probably still have family in town the organizers invented it so families could do something together.
Mark Roberts is with the Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club and says, “It’s a free event we put on every year on the day after Christmas or the evening after Christmas.”
Basically the club puts out candles or lights to illuminate parts of the trail. They then let people ski or walk the path. This will be the 7th year the event is being held.
John Diebel helps plan the event every years and says, “The trail we have here near the Chalet lends itself really well to the event because it loops back on itself so much that you can not only see the luminaries straight ahead but you can also see off to the side and you can really see the luminaries through there. It gives it a magical feel.”
The group spends a good portion of the evening following Christmas assembling the lights that brighten the path, assembling light stands, and attaching light bulbs and batteries meant to last throughout the evening. They estimate that 200 luminaries will cover an area of about 744 feet, meant to cover about a mile and quarter worth of trail.
It’s more work than you might think. The first year they held the event it was extremely cold and they tried using tea candles, but they tended to freeze. They went to votive candles that worked better, but then they had trouble with wind. This is the first year they are using LED lights.
After the event light refreshments are served each year. They encourage patrons to bring all leftover Christmas food. Last year more than 300 people attended the one night only candle luminary ski.