Lake Placid Things to Do

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The New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) manages the facilities used during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid. It operates Whiteface Mountain and Gore Mountain ski areas, the Olympic Sports Complex, and the Olympic ice and jumping complexes.

Olympic Center
- the 1980 Rink Herb Brooks Arena
- the 1932 & 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum
- the Olympic Speed Skating Oval

MacKenzie-Intervale Ski Jumping Complex
- the 90-meter and 120-meter ski jump towers
- the Freestyle Aerial Training Center

Olympic Sports Complex
- combined bobsled/luge/skeleton run
- biathlon range and cross-country trails for skiers, snowshoers and mountain bikers

We went to the ski jumping complex and freestyle aerial centre. The rates for the complex, park, chairlift, and elevator (up the ski jump tower) is $9 for adults, $6 for children and seniors. It's quite a sight to stand at the top of one of those jumps and look straight down the ramp. We saw some jumpers practicing there as well as at the freestyle centre.

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The U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid opened in November of 1982, the present facility opened in 1989. The purpose of the training center is to assist athletes in a variety of Olympic sports. The center also provides assistance to a number of affiliated sports organizations and disabled sports organizations.

Sports most frequently training in Lake Placid include biathlon, bobsled, figure skating, ice hockey, luge, skiing and speed skating. In addition, boxing, canoe and kayak, judo, rowing, synchronized swimming, taekwondo, team handball, water polo and wrestling also train at the site.

The housing facility contains 96 spacious rooms, which contain a private bath and television. The facility has 11 multi-purpose rooms. The complex, houses two laundry rooms, which athletes can use free of charge and a number of equipment storage rooms.

The athlete center, adjoining the housing complex, contains a 20,000 square foot gymnasium with the capability to hold three events at the same time. The kitchen and dining facilities are located in the center and offer athletes a wide variety of nutritious foods and snacks. Also housed in this area are the administrative offices, sports medicine, weight room with a certified weight trainer and a sports science-testing lab. The lobby area contains a reception area, two large meeting rooms and an official USOC Spirit Store.

Olympic Venues
Many of the facilities used by athletes training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid are the same ones, which were utilized during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. Those facilities include the Olympic Center, Olympic Speed Skating Oval, Olympic Jumping Complex, Mt. Van Hoevenberg and Whiteface Mountain Ski Area. These facilities are managed by the New York Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA).

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WhiteFace Mountain

A very difficult but enjoyable mountain. The elevation base is 1,220 feet / Elevation of highest lift terminus: 4,386 ft. Elevation of highest skiable terrain is 4,650 ft.

Can be extremely cold, check weather conditions..and is often called ICEFACE.

Nonetheless, a great skiing location in Northern New York. Village of Lake Placid has charm and few nice pubs and restaurants to unwind after a day of skiing.
Holiday shops and specialty stores coupled with skiing, dining and having fun create a nice environment for the entire family.

Go to Lake Placid!

The name says it all! Look at my picture! Mirror Lake is a pretty lake right next to Main Street ,Lake Placid. You can just sit back and relax in an Adirondack chair in the small park near downtown and enjoy its beauty or rent a canoe. There are also hour -long sightseeing cruises available if you wish.

Lake Placid was host to both the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games. Some of the facilities from these games are still used today for competitions,events and as training camps.There are several of these facilities located on Main St such as the 1932 Ice rink, 1980 ice rink and the speed skating track.
There is also an Olympic museum you can visit.

Lake Placid itself is not a big town. A good percentage of shops and restaurants are located on or around Main Street. It is pleasant and clean and a nice place to stroll around, although it was quite crowded the weekend I was there.
If you are visiting during peak season, there is free"park and ride" parking at the train station parking alot. The shuttle runs from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm.You will save yourself alot of time and frustration if you use it.

At 4,867 ft, Whiteface Mountain is New York state's fifth highest peak and it is the only one of the Adirondack high peaks accessible by car. There are a few different options available to visit this mountain in the late spring to early autumn months. You can hike ,you can take a gondola or you can can drive the Veteran's Memorial Highway.

This highway was built to provide jobs in the early years of the Depression. It is a toll road and the cost is $9 for each car and driver and additional $4 per each passenger in the car. The ride is very scenic and when you arrrive near the top of the peak, you can either walk through an underground tunnel to an elevator in the mountain to the summit or take a short hike to the top via the Stairway Ridge trail. I definately recommend taking the trail. It is a very short trail and although it is uphill, I did not consider it difficult at all. Although you should wear comfortable ,sturdy shoes because the trail mostly consists of boulders with a few stairs in between.
The views are just gorgeous and on a clear day you can view many of the lakes, Vermont and even Canada sometimes.
In the winter, if you are a skier, Whiteface is considered one of the best peaks for skiiing in the Northeast USA.

Trailheads are everywhere, but we decided on a trip up Pitchoff Mountain that took us past 'Balanced Rock'. It was a perfect day, about 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We hiked with a local named Royce and his black lab, Morgan. You get to the trailhead about 4 miles east of town on Rt. 73. Pitchoff heads up to the north, and the trail to Cascade Mountain goes off the road to your right. Pitchoff was good exercise for us and didn't kill us like one of the other 4000 footers might have. Our vertical climb was about 2000 feet and that was enough for us. The round trip of about 4 miles took us about 5 hours, including lunch up on Balanced Rock.
At the top of the mountain we had the rare treat of being checked out at close range by a gliding peregrine falcon that came swooping by us as he caught a thermal along the top of the ridge line. Of course, my reaction was too awestruck to get a good photo of him until he was 50 yards away from us. The next day we took an even easier trip up Mt. Jo. That trailhead begins at the Adirondack Loj and is an even better introduction to mountain hiking. Great views from both hikes!

Take it all in, see where the miracle on ice happened, skate on the oval where eric hyeden won 5 gold metals, take your kids on a bobsled run, ski the olympic mountain, swim in the lakes, rent a boat, go hiking or do some shopping, its all here

Going to Lake Placid in the winter has to include skiing. While the hill can be tough on beginners, the scenery is awe inspiring. When you get to the top, you can see so far on a clear day.