“Skiers lining up under the start banner of the Noquemanon (No-Kay-Ma-Non) Ski Marathon will find their surroundings familiar but different for the fourth annual ski race... The new start area has moved 2K up the trail to the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming for the 53K ski marathoners...

‘New world-class ski trails are being built by the city of Ishpeming at Al Quaal,’ points out Jon Mommaerts, race director. ‘We’ll have two less road crossings, and racers will enjoy the wide-open fields of the start area before their trek off into the woods.’
Another welcome change racers will notice is the elimination of the hairpin curve taking skiers from Al Quaal into the Deer Lake portion of the trail.

With the addition of new, John Morton-designed ski trails in this section, a new, milder entrance into the woods was engineered.