Henry loved these waters. His name still watches over them.
Henry Ross lived for the Adirondacks, and lost his life to them — killed in a snowmobile accident on the Sacandaga. In 2017 his family and friends founded the Henry D Ross III Memorial Fund with one commitment: put the time and resources into this community that safety actually takes. What they built is practical, not ceremonial — a way for everyone on the water and the trails to warn everyone else.
Released in 2019, the fund's GPS alert app carries Henry's initials. See a hazard — mark it. The pin lands on the shared map at its exact location for everyone who comes after you: lakes, trails, and the everyday places that get overlooked. Reports are reviewed by the fund's team before going live, so the map stays signal, not noise.
The safety map speaks five words. Each one is a pin someone took the time to drop for a stranger.
Thin ice
The winter killer — the reason the fund exists. Reported and pinned before someone finds it the hard way.
Cracked ice
Pressure cracks and refrozen seams that won't hold a machine.
Submerged obstacle
What the drawdown hides — stumps, cribs, and debris just under the surface.
Rocks
Charted or not, someone has to hit them first. A pin means nobody has to be second.
Tree down
Across a trail, a portage, or a channel — cleared faster when it's known.
Two projects, one lakeThe fund watches what changes. For what stays put — every buoy, shoal, and rock wall on Great Sacandaga — meet the Great Sacandaga Lake Mapping Project, whose charts power the water markers on our lake map.