The event had previously been organized by the Tupper Lake Chamber of Commerce, but the chamber dissolved in September. Town Recreation Director Laura LaBarge helped take over organizing the event with the town in October. She said the experience was enjoyable and the number of people who came out was “insane.”

Attendance has been growing over the eight years the event’s been held. The town capped attendance at 1,200. LaBarge said they sold out of 1,100 pre-sale tickets on Thursday night and sold around 60 more the day of the event. But between children, families, designated drivers and people who weren’t drinking, who didn’t need tickets, she estimated there were around 1,500 people total.

“It was absolutely the most number of people I’ve ever seen in my life in one place — at least, in Tupper Lake,” LaBarge said. “I was amazed. I’m a small-town girl, and these crowds of people were here for something that I helped organize. I was just amazed that that many people were in my tiny little town.”

LaBarge said as organizers checked IDs for everyone who got a mug, they saw passports from Canada and drivers licenses from California, Maine, Texas, Colorado and Virginia.

BrewSki revelers include, from left, former U.S. luge national team athlete Raychel Germaine, Iris Li, Nick Donaghy, U.S. luge Olympian Jonny Gustafson and U.S. luge national team athlete Dana Kellogg. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“The energy was so positive. I didn’t hear one negative comment from anyone all day,” she said. “I know it’s a drinking event, but it really is family friendly.”

LaBarge said brewers from some of the smaller first-time attending breweries from outside the area told her they had “fantastic” outreach from the event.

“I really made a point of trying to treat our brewers well so they want to come up and do more events with us,” LaBarge said.

One of those happy brewers was Ethan Mikesell, co-owner of Hex and Hop in Bloomingdale.

“I am a huge fan,” he said as he warmed up kegs of the Bloomingdale-based brews with a butane blowtorch. “They’re taking way better care of the breweries. We’re getting twice as much. They’re limiting the number of people. … I think they made some real smart decisions this year … to keep the breweries happy, to keep the customers happy.”

From left, Jason Crosby, Erin Crosby, Emma Brackett, Emily Marquart and Madeline Twiss show off their charcuterie board necklaces at the Tupper Lake Brew-Ski on Saturday. Brackett had assembled the mobile snack accessories, which carried pretzels, cheeses and cookies. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

He was glad the town capped the number of tickets for the event. Running out of beer has been an annual problem, and getting paid more to bring more beer made for a better experience.

LaBarge said she sought feedback from brewers and made some adjustments.

“I’m impressed,” Mikesell said. He’s worked the Brew-Ski for three years now. “We’ll be back.”

The only problem was the cold. With the temperature of around 9 degrees out, drinks with an alcohol content lower than around 9% were freezing in the lines, even faster than they could be poured.

Mikesell passed a blowtorch over the lines, where ice was visible on the insides.

Larry Callaghan of the Leroy’s Auto team putts a tennis ball at the Tupper Lake Lion’s Club’s Fire and Ice Golf Tournament on Saturday as Rick Skiff and Bauer Callaghan look on. Their team won the tournament with a score of 21. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“It’s really easy to burn one,” he said with a laugh, pointing to a blackened spot on one of the lines and joking that it added “smoked” flavor.

Earlier he stole a piece of firewood to bang ice out of the top of the keg.

“This is real Adirondack s***,” he said.

LaBarge said the town asked breweries to bring twice the product — six “sixtels,” each holding one-sixth of a keg — and paid each $400 and a $50 voucher for a local restaurant.

She pointed out that though the town now runs Brew-Ski, taxpayer money does not go it.

Ethan Mikesell of Hex and Hop Brewery hits kegs of his beers and meads with a blowtorch to keep the lines from freezing over during single-digit temperatures at the Tupper Lake Brew-Ski on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“This event runs completely self-sufficient just with ticket sales,” she said.

It pays for itself and then some, she said, so the town made donations to the volunteer trail grooming group and MACs Safe Ride, which offered rides back home and around town to keep everyone safe.

LaBarge said when the town asked her to take on the chamber’s events, she said she’d need a part-time assistant. The town agreed, and she found one — her dad, Bill Cote. He is a retired police officer, so she said he knows about event safety. She said she has a “great support system” of family and friends and believes the event will be “sustainable” into the future.

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Trails’ namesake loved event

From left, Aaron Barr, Maria Barr, Katie Pearl and Tina Pearl get beers from Jessy and Angie Jolicoeur at the Oval Brewing booth at the Tupper Lake Brew-Ski in February 2023. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

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Jim Frenette, for whom the trails are named, was out on skis with family and cups in hand on Saturday. He was being treated like a celebrity as locals like Christielee Geiger rushed over for selfies with the legendary skier.

As he looked around at the hordes of people skiing, sipping and socializing, he commented on how the course is a good place to learn to ski and get introduced to the sport he’s enjoyed for most of his 94 years living in town.

“It’s been introduced to a lot of people,” he said.

Frenette was thrilled with the turnout, the condition of the trails and the event as a whole. He developed the trail network “way back when” but never envisioned an event like Brew-Ski.

“I can’t be any better than watching all these people,” he said. “Today is a miracle.”

“I can’t believe the people,” Frenette’s daughter Margaret O’Leary said. “Where are they all coming from?”

After seeing the grass just a couple of days earlier, Frenette was happy with the layers of snow that had fallen and continued to fall during Brew-Ski.

“It’s the best it’s been all year,” he said of the conditions. “These guys do such a great job with grooming it.”

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Fire and Ice Golf Tournament

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Stu Nichols is president of the Tupper Lake Lions Club that organized the Fire and Ice Golf Tournament. He said this was the 13th year of this event, which sees golfers smash tennis balls through the snow around the covered greens to raise money for the service organization.

Five teams competed, with three members each. The championship title was won by the Leroy’s Auto team of Rick Skiff, Larry Callaghan and Bauer Callaghan, who called their shot during the competition.

“We’re probably going to win this thing,” one Callaghan said.

Skiff called over the field to a competing team — Edwards and the Ringer’s Scott Edwards, Pam Edwards and Spencer Lanthier — when the Enterprise showed up to take a photo.

“Scottie! He said he wanted pictures of the winning team!” Skiff said.

Edwards and the Ringer said they had won the competition four times before, but it’s been a couple of years.

“Counting discrepancies,” Lanthier, the titular ringer, alleged.

Scott said they were in a “building year” like the Buffalo Bills, whose logo adorned his hat.

The three have been shooting together for a decade, Pam said. It started on a whim when the couple saw Lanthier in town the night before the competition.

“Ten years together, haven’t had a fistfight yet,” Lanthier said.

All in all, the day was filled with exciting moments — skiers doing 360-degree spins, dogs meeting each other, golfers landing accurate shots, new skiers learning the trade and lots of current and unique beers being sampled.

Jim Frenette and his daughter Margaret O’Leary enjoy the Brew-Ski on Saturday at the Tupper Lake trail system named after Frenette. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)