DON J OLSON
The festive atmosphere on the shore of the frozen Chequamegon Bay for the annual Book Across the Bay from Ashland to Washburn.
CONSTANCE MEEK
Competitive skier Constance Meek, inset, enjoys the festive atmosphere on the shore of the frozen Chequamegon Bay for the annual Book Across the Bay from Ashland to Washburn (main photo).
Constance Meek knows what makes a good ski race. A competitive cross-country skier for 40 years, she’s tackled courses throughout the United States and Europe and even moved from Madison to Hayward to be where the American Birkebeiner is raced, “so I could take advantage of the Birkie trail and be in the place where I love to ski.”
There’s also another Wisconsin race close to Constance’s heart, and she just loves to book it. The Book Across the Bay ski race and snowshoe trek takes participants for an evening luminary-lit tour across Chequamegon Bay from Ashland to Washburn, finishing at Thompson’s West End Park.
Constance has missed it only twice in 22 years and the lifelong competitor enjoys the course whether she is truly competing or not. “If the conditions are really nice, I try and race it. But if it’s icy or really cold and windy, I just kind of take it easy and ski cautiously and enjoy it. Because the best part to me is the party in the tent afterwards … it’s the highlight.”
This year, festivities get under way with a free polka party Friday, Feb. 16, the night before the event, on Maslowski Beach in Ashland.
The next evening, participants start at that beach in waves, competitive skiers and snowshoers heading out first over the 10K course. (People are encouraged to leave their cars in Washburn and take the shuttle into Ashland.) Fireworks, ice sculptures and plenty of winter-loving companions (more than 2,000) add to the atmosphere. Constance certainly will be among them to hook up with friends and make a night of it.
Book Across the Bay, Feb. 19, 2022, at 6 p.m., Ashland to Washburn. www.batb.org.