Lake Placid - One of New Yorks Best Places for Winter Activities

Nestled in the Adirondack State Park in Essex County, New York, is a small village with a population of approximately 4,000. Lake Placid may be small in size but it is very big on winter activities. Outdoor winter enthusiasts flock to Lake Placid, the host of the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980, as soon as the weather turns cold. Scenic beauty and natural wonders can be found all around the area. There are winter activities to suit everyone, including many Olympic venues for the daring sports enthusiast. Lake Placid is well-known among winter sports enthusiasts for its snowboarding, skiing, bobsledding, skating, dog sledding, and tobogganing.

Snowboarding and skiing, both Alpine and Cross Country, in the Lake Placid area are winter activities enjoyed by many. Whiteface Mountain which is located 13 miles from the town of Lake Placid offers some of the best snowboarding and alpine skiing in North America. Whiteface Mountain has the greatest vertical drop (3,430 feet) on this side of the Rocky Mountains and is the only ski area in the East to have hosted the Winter Olympic Games. There are 221 acres not including 35 acres of expert, ungroomed wilderness skiing. Ten lifts, including the eight-passenger Cloudsplitter Gondola - the world's fastest mono-cable gondola, carry skiers to the 74 trails. Cross country ski enthusiasts have miles of trails available to them. Snowshoes, back-country skis and telemark skis available to wander through the forests of the Olympic Sports Complex or view breathtaking sights of High Peaks.

If the winter activity you enjoy is bobsledding, Lake Placid offers the opportunity to ride with a professional driver and brakeman down the original 1932/1980 Olympic bobsled track through the famous Zig Zag turns. This is one of only three actual bobsled rides in the North and South American continents. Another place to experience a fun of bobsledding is located six miles from the village of Lake Placid, at the Mount VanHoevenberg Sports Complex. Here you can take a half-mile bobsled ride. If you would rather watch a bobsled competition, International and World Cup Competitions take place throughout the winter. The Verizon Sports Complex is the newest and most challenging combined track for bobsled, luge and skeleton racing. Competitors will fly past you at 80 miles-per-hour. The track measures one mile in length with 20 curves and about 6 G's of force.

Ice skating is a winter activity that can be enjoyed at Lake Placid by visitors of all ages. Among the many places to skate, the most popular is The Sheffield Speed Skating Oval. Skater's skate on the same surface where legendary speed skater Eric Heiden made Olympic history. During the 1980 Olympics, Heiden won an unprecedented five gold medals.

Dog-sledding is a winter activity that is offered in the Lake Placid area. Sledders attend a training seminar and then are allowed to drive a team of dogs across beautiful frozen lakes. Visitors can also sit on the sled and enjoy the ride.

Tobogganing in the Lake Placid area is a winter activity not to be missed. A 30' high ski jump trestle has been converted into a toboggan run. Toboggans travel down the ice covered chute onto frozen Mirror Lake and can travel over 1,000 feet once they reach the frozen lake surface.

There are many other winter activities located in the Lake Placid area. Some of these are: snowmobiling, sledding, tubing, ice fishing, ice climbing, sleigh riding and a luge track. Almost every conceivable winter activity is available to the visiting cold weather sports enthusiast.

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