Lake Placid -- A winter playground

Coming off the 120m Ski Jump at the MacKenzie-Intervale Jumping Complex with a view of Whiteface in the background in Lake Placid. (ORDA / February 15, 2008)

The body of water that most people take to be Lake Placid is, in fact, not. In this Adirondack town, Main Street actually fronts Mirror Lake, used for dog-sledding in winter, crew practice in summer. Known primarily as a wilderness playground and site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics, Lake Placid is, at its core, an outdoorsy walking town. No matter what time of year, whether togged up in Russki fur hats or in tank tops, crowds converge on downtown shops and restaurants to power-walk the 2.7-mile orange brick path that rims Mirror Lake like an Olympic track. Just out of town, hikers and skiers of all ages navigate hundreds of majestic trails within a few miles of elegant Frette linen-covered beds. And everyone smiles. Lake Placid, in all seasons, is a happy place.

Snow inclined

I want to state flat-out that as much as I love, in spring, summer and fall, to summit mountains or huff through backcountry with nothing more than a bag of trail mix in hand, my ideal hiking trail in deep freeze features a zero-degree grade, is poured from a cement mixer and preferably skirts some fun boutiques and restaurants. Luckily, Lake Placid provides this level path, and that is one of the reasons it appeals to a growing number of "novice" outdoorsmen in addition to hard-core adventurers who prefer the straight up rock-face variety of winter sports.

I visit Lake Placid monthly to see my son, who attends Northwood School, which may be the only high school in the United States to offer a Bobsled Club - run by physics teacher Matt Roy, who was on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team. Don Mellor, an English teacher and director of the school's Wilderness program, is an Adirondack rock- and ice-climbing authority. His climbing guides can be found in backpackers' pockets across the country, and, even after 25 years here, he's still intrigued by the area.

"There's more to do on frozen water here than anywhere else in the world," Mellor said. "There's no other place on Earth that brings together the diverse elements of wilderness, Olympics, tourism and what is known as the 'myth of the Adirondacks.'"

Stylish origins

It is this unknown, mystical quality that Mellor and photographer Olaf Soot allude to in their 2006 book, "Adirondacks Alive." And it's what brought the tycoons and barons, who set up Great Camps and launched the now ubiquitous and slightly overdone stone, twig and bark architecture known as Adirondack style to this remote region in the mid-1800s.

Among them was Melvil Dewey, who devised the library classification system that bears his name. He became an early player in what is now the Winter Olympics. A winter sports booster, he carved out nearly 10,000 acres of backcountry wilderness for his Lake Placid Club. He and his son, Godfrey, petitioned to have Lake Placid host the Winter Games III in 1932. (The first was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France.)

You learn lots of behind-the-scenes gossip like this by taking a tour of the Olympic Center Arena, which houses the famous hockey rink upon which, in 1980, "The Miracle on Ice" occurred. You can't go wrong with any of the three Olympic Center tour guides, all of whom were on the 1980 Games organizing committee. Being escorted by white-bearded Howard Riley was like sharing a pint with a jovial storyteller. He had something to say about every aspect of the 1980 Olympics. Midway through the tour, we climbed up into the stands of the Herb Brooks Arena, named after the 1980 U.S. team's victorious coach, and sat before several TV's to watch a replay of the final three minutes of that miraculous United States vs. Soviet Union game, while simultaneously gazing at hockey players practicing below. I wasn't the only one dabbing my eyes.

Going for the gold

"Lake Placid is the only Olympic site where each venue can be seen from every other," Riley said. Sure enough, from an Olympic Center window, we could see the adjacent speed-skating oval where, in 1980, Erik Heiden won an unprecedented five gold medals. It is open to the public for skating for two hours every evening and Saturday afternoons ($7 adults; $5 students; $17 family of four; plus $3 skate rentals), and is to Heiden fans what the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps are to Rocky Balboa aficionados.

Off in the distance, Whiteface Mountain resort, celebrating its 50th year, was crawling with snowboarders and skiers. Earlier that day, I had overheard someone mention that conditions on Whiteface far surpassed Beaver Creek's last spring, testifying to why this mountain was voted No. 3 by Ski Magazine among the best Eastern ski resorts.

In the opposite direction, twin Olympic ski jumps loomed incongruously over the landscape. An elevator takes visitors to the top of the larger one - 120 meters, 26 stories - from which you get a vertiginous peek at what these flying skiers survey right before they launch.

The Olympic Bobsled Complex is just down the road. If you're lucky, you'll see bobsled teams training - squished into covered sleds and hurtling down a mile-plus course like life-size bobbleheads. If you have the guts, you can sit behind a driver and race down the last half mile of the track, avoiding the g-force perils of the starting mile ($75 a ride).

When you tire of all things Olympics, head out to the Adirondack Mountain Club Loj (this spelling is one of several vestigial "Deweyisms" in his failed attempt to phoneticize written English). You take a roughly paved road five miles off Route 73. Trails to many of the region's 46 peaks taller than 4,000 feet (climb all of them and you become an honored "46er") radiate out from here, though it seemed so hidden I felt as if I'd secretly stumbled on an intoxicating hikers' paradise. In a town overrun with tourists, this place reminded me why our city-weary forebears came to the Adirondacks in the first place. Rent snowshoes or cross-country skis ($20 a day; you cannot go on winter trails without one or the other), and take a mile-long invigorating stomp/glide around Heart Lake. Or join the likes of former Huntington resident Emily Pincomb, a volunteer instructor with the Winter Mountaineering School, who moved here for the wilderness lifestyle.

In January and February, temperatures in Lake Placid often drop below zero. The locals call these conditions "bitter," but I have other choice words for it. Donning several layers of warm clothing, I joined many smiling walkers back in town on the 2.7-mile stroll around Mirror Lake; first under the balconies of the luxurious Mirror Lake Inn, then past Craftsman-style lakefront homes, under the popular 60-foot-tall toboggan run that spits happy kids out onto the icy lake surface, then through town, to the call of a pack of sled dogs, chomping at the bit to take tourists on a snowy ride across the lake, and, finally, to the warmth of a fire at the Interlaken Inn.

IF YOU GO

WHAT TO DO

The Olympic Regional Development Authority offers a $29 Olympic Sites Passport that covers entrance into the 1932 & 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum, in the Olympic Center, as well as a guided tour of the center; free one-time access to public skating on the Olympic oval; the elevator ride to the top of the 120-meter ski jump, where you can watch jumpers train in the mornings; free gondola ride to the top of Whiteface for a panoramic view (no lift tickets, though); access to bobsled course viewing and 20 percent off the $75 price of a bobsled ride. Passports, as well as bobsled ride tickets, can be purchased at the ORDA store downtown at 2426 Main St. (more information available at orda.org, 518-523-1655). You also can purchase bobsled tickets at the Bobsled Complex Visitor Center. For snowshoeing and cross- country skiing, contact the Adirondack Mountain Club, adk.org; 518-523-3441.

SHOPPING

Where'd You Get That Hat, 2569 Main St. 518-523-3101, for a cool collection of head toppers. Strikes the fancy of even the most discerning snowboarder.

Ruthie's Run, 2415 Main St., 518-523-3271, ruthiesrun .com. Better sportswear and skiwear. Where to go for that yearned-for wool sweater.Adirondack Museum on Main Store and Gallery, 2477 Main St., 518-523- 9074. Shelves are filled with all things bear, moose, birch-bark, guideboat. The perfect place to accessorize your mountain home.

WHERE TO STAY

Interlaken Inn, 39 Interlaken Ave.; 800-428-4369, theinterlak eninn.com; doubles go for $155 to $275. Favored by the local gentry, this baronial bed-and-breakfast has won a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for four years running. It is also the best value in town. Dip into champagne fondue at the bar or indulge in fine fare within the dining room's four-wall woodlands mural that puts you in the center of an Adirondack idyll. Pub menu entrees, $9-$16; dining room, $26-$40. Right next door is the venerable Mirror Lake Inn (mirrorlakeinn.com, 518-523-2544), where doubles start at $295 in peak season, $235 offseason.

WHERE TO EAT

Paradox Lodge, 2169 Saranac Ave.; paradoxlodge .com; 877-743-9078; reservations necessary. In the glow of votive candles, intimate rooms are the picture of inspired chaos. Decorative motifs include dead animal parts (i.e. deer hoof coat hooks), century-old fishing rods and handmade tree-legged dining tables. Featured on Rachel Ray, bald, brash chef-owner Moses "Red" LaFountaine dishes out exemplary food with withering insults - "The Red Show," it's been called. He routinely shows off raw ingredients to his guests before doing his magic on an open stove within reach of diners. Entrees, $20-$42.

Lake Placid Brew and Pub, 14 Mirror Lake Dr.; 518- 523-3813, ubuale.com. Artisanal beer; try a flight of six 4-ounce pours. Brewmaster Kevin Litchfield crafts signature ales and lagers, including the popular Ubu Ale, now sold in six states. Feeding the hungry hordes here won't break the bank. Starts filling up after last chairlift up Whiteface. Entrees, $9 to $19.

Chair 6, 5993 Sentinel Rd. 518-523-3636. The best sweet potato pancakes in the world - bar none. Pancakes with side, $7.

INFORMATION

Lake Placid Visitors Bureau, 2610 Main St.; lakeplacid.com, 800- 447-5224

Related topic galleries: Herb Brooks, Rocky Balboa, Tickets, Nordic Skiing, Winter Olympics, Local Authority, Cross Country Skiing