Tuscobia Winter Ultra

Hello everyone –

We have decided to step away from organizing the event going forward.

This was a very difficult decision for us. The winter ultra community is truly special and we have loved hosting the family reunion for 14 years! It has brought us so much joy seeing familiar faces every year while also welcoming new friends to the community.

Year after year, we have witnessed how you show up for each other on the trail. We have been blessed with so much volunteer support over the years, with many people repeatedly going above and beyond. We are truly grateful to all of our partners over the years, both near and far, for contributing amazing awards and raffle prizes.

We worked hard to develop relationships with local businesses and groups, and really appreciate those who’ve come to see the benefit of building community through our shared love of the Northwoods in the depth of winter.

We know that Tuscobia has special meaning for so many of you and that makes it especially hard to step away.

We hope the event will continue in some form. We are open to hearing from anyone serious about taking on the event organization and would be willing to work together on a handover. Heck, we might even find ourselves on the start line next year!

Take care,
Chris & Helen

tuscobia@gmail.com

Best to contact us via email. We are not active on social media.

Congratulations to the winner of the ITI entry!

Apologies for the delay in posting. We did the drawing last Tuesday after hearing back from all qualifiers and I didn’t manage to complete the upload here before my flight took off… and then promptly forgot all about it!

Important change in route between the Tuscobia Trail and Butternut Lake Lodge.

We will be on the road. We will not take trail 89 or the lake. It is marked with flags (blue flag, orange tape, reflective tape).

Link below to google map route from the Outhouse Bar to the turnaround. You will continue STRAIGHT across the road at the bar in both directions. You will cross Co Rd E. Do not turn onto Co Rd E. See snapshot below.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/3ciCwvbECHHzU8Bc8

Link to live tracking here!

We track in/out of the checkpoints only.

We have one major change for this year’s event: the Ojibwa shelter is not available due to structural concerns. We are very happy to share that the Winter Huskies snowmobile club has offered use of their Groomer Shed – a recently constructed, heated and spacious building right on the Tuscobia trail just west of Winter! Checkpoint location.

Please be sure to express your thanks to the organization if you meet any of the members on the trail.

Note: this means the checkpoint will be 4 miles farther from the finish. Plan accordingly! It also means the course will be slightly shorter without the out and back to Ojibwa park. We have no plans to make this up but that could change…

Updated GPX files courtesy of longtime participant Mark Seaburg:

• 80 mile: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53606784
• 160 mile: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53607588

The same rules will apply in terms of access to participants only – no crew or supporters may enter the building.

Event date: Jan 2 – 4th, 2026 (Fri-Sun)

12/28: Registration is closed. If you are registered and cannot participate, please let us know or cancel in your UltraSignup account. Thank you!

7/31: Applications will now open August 7th for 2 weeks on UltraSignup. We pushed registration out by 1 week to allow time to resolve a set up issue on the platform (we cover the platform fees and a bug fix is needed to make this work smoothly)!

Successful applicants will be automatically entered into the event shortly after the application window closes and the entry fee will be charged to your credit card at that time:

• $150 for 80 mile
• $200 for 160 mile

No refunds, no transfers, no deferrals.

If we fill the roster and still have applications from qualified folks, we will start a waitlist.

If additional spots open up, we will announce it on the website and folks can contact us directly (tuscobia@gmail.com) to apply. At that time, late entry fees will apply:

• $200 for 80 mile
• $250 for 160 mile

Congratulations to the following prizewinners of the grand raffle prizes. And a huge THANK YOU to our partners!

RUN: Adventure Running Company, Duluth, MN

• 2025 Trail Running Trip (US destination) – Bethanie Holley (160-mile run)

SKI: Out There Nordic Sports, Rice Lake, WI

• Ski Package (boots, skis, bindings) – sadly no skiers this year!

BIKE: Onyx Racing Products, St. Cloud, MN

• Complete Wheelset – Jason Hanson (160-mile bike)

The ITI drawing is open to the winners of the 160-mile events. This year’s winners were:

• Run: Simone Valentin Austin & Jeff Leuwerke
• Bike: Kate Coward & Tristan Carlson

Watch the video to find out who won!

Live tracking at checkpoints (and any other updated we receive).

We got to see several sections of the trail today.

There was some of this (Rice Lake, Birchwood, probably on short sections close to other towns):

A lot of this:

And a little of this (on Trail 89/90 from Butternut Lake to Co Rd B – you gotta have some adventure!):

Butternut Lake is solid, with ~2 inches of very dry snow and no overflow as of today:

Thanks to long time participant Mark Seaburg for providing the GPX routes for this year’s event.

• 80-mile route
• 160-mile route