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There are 429 National Park Sites in the United States according to the National Park Foundation which spans across more than 84 million acres. There are parks in each state and also in the U.S. territories, including parks in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam. The Adirondack Mountains in New York State offer some of the best opportunities for outdoor recreation in a beautiful, natural setting, all within a day’s drive for 25% of the entire North American population. It is also home to Lake Placid which hosted the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games.
The Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrading the Olympic Venues including three ski resorts it operates over the last few years. The Olympic Venues that hosted the 1980 Winter Games had become outdated and needed to be upgraded. An analysis done by Tourism Economics, which is a research firm, found that the ORDA local operational spending, revenues, and the state’s investment yielded a direct economic impact of $341.8 million during the 2022/23 fiscal year. ORDA supports 3,414 jobs and also generated $25 million in state and local tax revenues.
Interesting Facts and History About the Adirondack Park:
- The Adirondack Park is located in upstate NY, roughly 5 hours north of New York City, and 1 hour south of the Canadian border.
- The Adirondack Park is greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined.
- The boundary of the Park encompasses approximately 6.2 million acres, or 9,375 square miles, nearly half of which belongs to all the people of New York State.
- The Adirondack Park was created in 1882 by the New York State government and is constitutionally protected to remain a “forever wild” forest preserve.
- The Adirondack Park contains 85% of all wilderness in the eastern United States.
- Roughly 130,000 people live within the park’s boundaries and there are just over 100 small towns and villages within the Adirondack Park.
- The Adirondacks have approximately 3000 ponds and lakes, 2000 miles of hiking trails, and 30,000 miles of rivers, brooks, and streams, offering a lifetime of exploration.
- The word “vacation” was coined as the Adirondack region gained popularity in the 1800s.
- Wealthy families (Rockefeller, Carnegie, Post, etc.) built large “great camps” in the region; their families would “vacate” the cities each summer, opting for the cooler Adirondacks.
- Whiteface Mountain has the greatest vertical east of the Rockies.
- Lake Placid hosted the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games.
- In January 2023, Lake Placid hosted the FISU Winter World University Games.
The 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, where the USA Olympic Hockey team won the Gold Medal against Russia in the 1980 Olympic Games, has been upgraded. The renovations began in 2021 and the 1980 Rink and concourse have been equipped with LED Event & TV Quality Lighting and a new HVAC system. Renovations to the locker rooms, public restrooms, concessions stands, and hospitality suites have also been made. The rink can also be converted to either an international or NHL size standard.
The 1932 Jack Shea Arena is now connected to the Olympic Center’s new refrigeration plant which is designed to make ice faster and more efficient. The ice rink has sound-absorbing panels for better acoustics throughout the arena, a new dehumidification system, a concession area, and new dasher boards.
A new bistro with views of the Adirondack Mountains has been added to the facility along with other Olympic venues between the two rinks. Inside the facility, you can also take a tour of a Museum that is home to North America’s second-largest Winter Olympic artifact collection.
- Related Article: Snowbasin Resort, UT, Welcomes IOC as Proposed Venue for Alpine Skiing in Salt Lake City 2034 Bid
Another upgrade is the addition of an 8-person gondola that is ADA-compliant and carries athletes, coaches, and visitors to the base of the ski jump towers. At the base of the towers, visitors can take a ride in a glass elevator to the top and get an athlete’s view from the top of a 128-meter ski jump, which also offers panoramic views of the surrounding area. There is also a zipline visitors can try that follows the incline and speed of a 100-meter ski jump.
Mt. Van Hoevenberg venue is where events like the bobsled, biathlon, luge, skeleton, and cross-country skiing take place. It has been renovated and has a new 55,000-square-foot lodge with food service, lounge space, and a climbing center. This venue also offers hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and sliding sports. Visitors can also watch athletes train on the ice at the only indoor push-start facility for luge, skeleton, and bobsled in the United States. Other new attractions include the cliffside coaster, which is the longest coaster in the US, and travels along the historic bobsled track.
For those who want to feel what it is like to participate in an Olympic event, the Mt. Van Hoevenberg venue offers visitors the opportunity to do the bobsled. It is one of the few locations on earth where you can experience this one-of-a-kind Olympic sport for yourself. The bobsled can reach speeds of up to 50 miles per hour on a mile-long track, zooming through banked turns and zigging and zagging along the course.
Whiteface Mountain’s Legacy Lodge is a new 10,000-square-foot lodge located at 2,100 feet, which is the midpoint of the resort. It serves as the area where ski instructors use for teaching skiing and snowboarding lessons the basics. The Legacy Lodge offers dining service, restroom amenities, and a heated viewing deck with spectacular views. Additionally, Whiteface has upgraded its snowmaking capabilities, a new high-speed 8-person gondola, and other lift improvements.
The James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval has been completely reconstructed and transformed. It is located right next to the Olympic Center in Lake Placid and visitors can enjoy skating on one of the few outdoor speed skating tracks in the country. The public can ice skate on the skating oval during the winter when competitions or training are not taking place. During the summer visitors have the opportunity to switch out their ice skates for in-line skates at hit the oval in shorts and a t-shirt.
Lake Placid is easily walkable to the Olympic Center and there are a variety of great shops, restaurants, and places to stay in town. Whiteface Mountain, Mt. Van Hoevenberg, and the Ski Jumping complex are all within a short 15-minute drive of Lake Placid. There is so much history surrounding Lake Placid and the Olympics but it is looking to the future. Almost all of the sites that I visited were upgraded and there were so many events and activities going on it was hard not to find something to do there. If you love history, winter and summer activities, and Olympic sporting events, then visiting Lake Placid should be on your list to check out.
The Four Lake Placid Legacy Sites are the Olympic Center, Olympic Jumping Complex, Mt. Van Hoevenberg, and Whiteface Mountain. These are iconic venues that represent the spirit of the Olympic Games, welcome visitors, host events, and serve as training facilities for multiple sports. All of them have recently undergone renovations and enhancements and can all be visited under the Lake Placid Legacy Sites Passport.
For more information visit ORDA’s website.
