Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! That’s probably what most ski enthusiasts say this time of year. It’s winter and that time to strap on your skis and tackle the slopes. Whether you’re an advanced skier or you prefer to just glide down the bunny trail, Lake Placid, an area steeped in winter Olympic history, is a perfect skiing destination.
When you ski down Lake Placid’s popular Whiteface Mountain, you will be skiing down the same trails that Olympic athletes have done before you, including Phil Mahre who won silver in the 1980 Olympics. There are 87 trails and 11 lifts including the Cloudsplitter Gondola, as well as terrain parks and glades skiing. They offer group and private lessons, adaptive ski lessons as well as lessons for “Snowboomers” age 50 and up.
When you’re done tackling the mountains, you can choose to eat at any one of the six Whiteface restaurants on the property. Whiteface Mountain is also nearby to the Olympic Jumping Complex and the Olympic Sports Complex, just down the road. If you ever wanted to see how high these pro skiers jump from, this is your chance.
In addition to Whiteface Mountain, the fifth-highest mountain in the U.S. state of New York, and one of the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains, Lake Placid is home to the Lake Placid Olympic Museum.
Did you know that his town hosted two Olympic Games and was the birthplace of North America’s first Winter Olympics? At the Lake Placid Olympic Museum you can hear the stories and see the photos of the Olympians. Also close to the Museum is the Herb Brooks Arena. That little “Miracle on Ice” hockey game took place here in 1980. It was the United States against the USSR hockey game. In one of the most exciting games in Olympic history, US students and amateurs upset the heavily favored Soviet national ice hockey team 4–3 and won the gold medal a few days later. If you don’t remember this monumental event in U.S. sports history, the museum offers film footage for you to watch and see the equipment that the players wore.
Plan your vacation now and you can catch The Lake Placid Nordic Festival, which takes place on February 24-26, 2017 and includes races for all abilities on the Olympic Cross Country ski trails of Mt. Van Hoevenberg.
Travel Makers MD