Lake Placid, winter and summer playground

Today the town has something for visitors in every season — from hiking to mountain biking to tobogganing onto Mirror Lake to enjoying fall foliage. Top winter athletes train and compete at its Olympic venues, so there’s often an ice show, ski jumping, bobsled, or luge to watch, and the largest annual event is the Ironman triathlon in July, which attracts upward of 2,500 participants.

“We’re a region that appeals to singles, but I think our biggest appeal is the family because there’s so many other things for people to do — ride the bobsled, ride the luge, watch skating indoors, skate outdoors on the Olympic oval,” Weibrecht said. “There’s cross-country skiing all over the place, either on the groomed trails or anywhere you want. Snowshoeing. You name it, we have it.”

Over the past decade, Whiteface has invested more than $20 million in improvements, including a new kids campus. The mountain boasts 76 trails, 10 lifts and a vertical drop of 3,430 feet, highest of any ski resort east of the Rockies, and hosts World Cup events every year. In an average year, which usually begins in early December, 200,000 people, many from metropolitan New York City, will ski there.

Although it has had to endure its share of criticism — icy conditions earned it the nickname “Iceface” — snowmaking technology has changed the landscape and Whiteface remains a signature destination for skiers. Major improvements have also been made to its on-mountain restaurants and cafes, including the addition of a burrito bar in the Cloudspin Lounge.

The Veterans Memorial Highway, a Depression-era public works project under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that opened in 1935, also allows visitors during the warm months to drive to within 300 feet of Whiteface’s 4,867-foot summit and experience some of the most breathtaking panoramas in the East.

“What our research tells us, the attraction to the area is the Adirondacks, and with the Olympics that sort of allowed us to separate ourselves from the rest of the Adirondacks,” McKenna said. “Without those Olympic Games, the hotels wouldn’t have been retooled, the facilities wouldn’t have been built. That sort of makes us stick out in the crowd. We’re one of the few places in the Northeast that can now talk about doing almost year-round business.

“There’s a lot more excitement here about the outdoor activities right now than the Olympic activities for the people that come here,” McKenna said. “But without those venues being built for 1980 and rebuilt, we would definitely be a different town, there’s no doubt about that. That’s sort of the legacy. We’d probably still have a lot of the motels from the 50s — mom-and-pop places.”

Instead, hotels have been upgraded, and the town has a new Marriott Courtyard, an expanded Crowne Plaza and a new conference center.

Perhaps what sets Lake Placid apart most, though, is the charming and inviting Main Street, which features hotels, restaurants (from Italian to Greek to Mexican to seafood), eclectic and outlet shopping, and a movie theater.

The Olympic Ice Arena where the U.S. team won that gold nearly 30 years ago sits at the south end of Main Street, and its hockey rinks have made it a hotbed for youth tournaments.

“People don’t come here because we’re an ex-Olympic village,” said Weibrecht, whose Cottage restaurant on Mirror Lake with its wood-burning stove and panoramic views offers the perfect retreat after a day on the slopes. “They come here for the lakes, the mountains, the wilderness, the ambiance of the community, the main street feel of our Main Street. Lake Placid is the original village the way it always was.”
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If You Go…

LAKE PLACID, N.Y.: http://www.whiteface.com/ or http://www.lakeplacid.com/ or 800-447-5224. Lake Placid hosted the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games.