Poor snow in the Adirondacks almost forced cancellation of the Nordic events, but, alerted by 1948 Olympic cross country racer "Chummy" Broomhall that there was more than a foot of snow in his hometown of Rumford, Maine, officials agreed to stage opening ceremonies and the jumping events in Lake Placid, then everyone drove to Rumford for the cross country competitions. At one point, Broomhall helped set the race tracks – no machine-setting equipment in those days, so skiers would ski-in the tracks – and then went home to change into his racing outfit; traffic at the site meant Broomhall missed his scheduled start time, but officials let him run at the end of the pack.