In the first part of January we took a trip to Lake Placid for a cross country skiing holiday. Lake Placid was the sight of 2 Winter Olympic games, 1932 and 1980 (made famous when the US hockey team beat the USSR) and has multiple cross country ski areas to choose from including the Olympic x-country trails. We took this trip with our good friends the Campbells and had a lovely condo/time share lined up. It was shaping up to be a great trip......until we arrived that is. We were met with unseasonably high temperatures. The ground was covered in snow (old snow but snow none the less) when we arrived on Sunday night but within a day that snow was gone! No cross country skiing, no ice skating, nothing. We pretty much ate, drank, and watched cable TV. At one point we were going to head home early but there was rumor of a snow storm coming so we stuck it out one more day. It barely rained.
We enjoyed several lovely restaurants, visited all the shops on the main drag, tried to complete a 2500 piece puzzle but failed miserably, and did a little sight seeing.
Our first stop was the Olympic Long Jumping Center where the skiers fly off a super high ski jump to see who can go the farthest. This was probably the highlight of the trip for me. First of all you ride a ski lift up to the jumping complex. I had never been on a ski lift. SCARY! Mostly because my jerk husband started each ride trying to make the chair swing around until I was screaming in terror and then he would stop. Then we got to take an elevator up to the top of the jump and look out over the course. Wow, I always thought the winter Olympics were a little lame and well, easy. How hard can skiing really be when tons of people do it? But man that jump was insanely high. I was impressed. They actually jump in the summer too using plastic mats and a water tank to jump into.
Next we went to the Olympic center and saw the ice rinks were the hockey games and ice skating took place and outside was the melted speed skating oval (closed for skating).We also tried to take a bobsled ride. They offer them for a pretty hefty fee but hey, we were desperate. When we showed up the first day we were told that a tour bus of people had booked the entire days runs. When we showed up the following afternoon the entire complex was closed due to, get this, inclimate weather! We got to walk around and look at the track but it was deserted.
Behind the jumping complex is the sight of John Brown's farm and grave site. He was a famous abolitionist. That was closed too but we read the plaques and peeked in the windows of his house. The top left photo shows the high jump in the background. It is all you see for miles! The top right is the bobsled track map showing the track and which parts were built and used for which Olympic games and also showing the most famous bobsled curve in the world.At one point we even decided to go up to Whiteface mountain where they do downhill skiing and take a gondola ride up and down the mountain. When we arrived we found the lodge completely dark. Turned out they had lost power on the mountain and the entire place was shut down for the day. We couldn't win for losing!
The rest of the trip was spent shopping at Price Chopper (they have EVERYTHING you need says the receptionist), cooking yummy dinners, and enjoying the fireplace. Needless to say not the best ski trip we have ever taken and we were happy to be home. The only good part really was getting to hang out with our friends. These photos show the huge condo we stayed in and our view at the golf course when we left. Not a snow patch in sight.
Posts
