The largest event because the 1980 Olympic Winter Games is about to take over the Adirondacks.
The Lake Placid 2023 FISU Winter World University Games, Jan. 12 to 22, will bring greater than 2,500 student-athletes and coaches from greater than 50 countries to upstate Latest York’s picturesque mountain range, in addition to countless spectators and winter sports fans.
The Winter World University Games, the second largest multi-sport competition after the Olympics, brings 12 winter sports races to mighty Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington (alpine, jumps); Gore Mountain in North Creek (freestyle, free-ski, snowboarding); and the gentler inclined Mount Van Hoevenberg (Nordic).
Lake Placid, which also hosted the 1932 and the 1980 Olympic Winter Games, underwent massive upgrades since those glory days. Latest trails were carved out and older ones widened and improved — with state-of-the-art sustainable energy and water-saving snowmaking and grooming installed.
“We typically get plenty of snow, but you would like top-of-the-line snow making to have security when hosting top events like this,” three-time Olympian and Lake Placid native Andrew Weibrecht, 36, told The Post.
Weibrecht’s father, a former ski instructor, and his mother, a former luge athlete, own and run the nearby luxury resort, the Mirror Lake Inn. When Weibrecht retired from competing after his third Olympics in 2018, he joined the family business.
In January 2022, the newly designed race finish line, which keeps the historic 1980 Olympics scoreboard, was dedicated because the Andrew Weibrecht Finish Area. Whiteface Mountain’s recent Warhorse Quad Lift is called in honor of Weibrecht, a two-time Olympic medal winner, impressively nicknamed the Warhorse.
Working example: The story goes that one week before the beginning of the 1980 Olympics, there was no snow. “Then it got here. Two storms dumped all that snow ready for the games,” said Weibrecht. “However it was a little bit of a nail-biter.”
Though he isn’t officially involved, Weibrecht is thrilled Lake Placid is shaping up to stay a world-class winter sports destination with unique facilities like Mt. Van Hoevenberg’s recent indoor push track — the one indoor refrigerated facility in america, which attracts bobsled and skeleton athletes from around the globe all year long.
Also, history is honored in the brand new Lake Placid Olympic Museum on the Olympic Center in downtown Lake Placid, slated to open later this 12 months. Just because it is preserved via the James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval, where the 1932 opening ceremonies were held and the primary gold medal in those games was won and awarded to Lake Placid’s Jack Shea; and where, in 1980, Wisconsin speed skater Eric Heiden won an unprecedented five gold medals. There’s also the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, the house of the best sporting event of the twentieth century, the Miracle on Ice; and the 1932 Jack Shea Arena, where every day skating is held.
“The history is incredible. However the query became is that this place one in every of relics, or does Lake Placid change into relevant?“ said Weibrecht.
Lake Placid is definitely reclaiming its place as a world-class winter sports venue beyond the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games. Next up: World Cup Ski Jumping (Feb. 10 to 12), World Synchronized Skating Championships (March 30 to April 1), and the Bobsled Skeleton World Championships is booked for February 2025.
“There may be a special connection to winter sports and the Olympics here,” said Weibrecht. “I used to be amazed at my first Olympic competition: there have been 10 or more athletes from Lake Placid. It just gets into your blood.”
The largest event because the 1980 Olympic Winter Games is about to take over the Adirondacks.
The Lake Placid 2023 FISU Winter World University Games, Jan. 12 to 22, will bring greater than 2,500 student-athletes and coaches from greater than 50 countries to upstate Latest York’s picturesque mountain range, in addition to countless spectators and winter sports fans.
The Winter World University Games, the second largest multi-sport competition after the Olympics, brings 12 winter sports races to mighty Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington (alpine, jumps); Gore Mountain in North Creek (freestyle, free-ski, snowboarding); and the gentler inclined Mount Van Hoevenberg (Nordic).
Lake Placid, which also hosted the 1932 and the 1980 Olympic Winter Games, underwent massive upgrades since those glory days. Latest trails were carved out and older ones widened and improved — with state-of-the-art sustainable energy and water-saving snowmaking and grooming installed.
“We typically get plenty of snow, but you would like top-of-the-line snow making to have security when hosting top events like this,” three-time Olympian and Lake Placid native Andrew Weibrecht, 36, told The Post.
Weibrecht’s father, a former ski instructor, and his mother, a former luge athlete, own and run the nearby luxury resort, the Mirror Lake Inn. When Weibrecht retired from competing after his third Olympics in 2018, he joined the family business.
In January 2022, the newly designed race finish line, which keeps the historic 1980 Olympics scoreboard, was dedicated because the Andrew Weibrecht Finish Area. Whiteface Mountain’s recent Warhorse Quad Lift is called in honor of Weibrecht, a two-time Olympic medal winner, impressively nicknamed the Warhorse.
Working example: The story goes that one week before the beginning of the 1980 Olympics, there was no snow. “Then it got here. Two storms dumped all that snow ready for the games,” said Weibrecht. “However it was a little bit of a nail-biter.”
Though he isn’t officially involved, Weibrecht is thrilled Lake Placid is shaping up to stay a world-class winter sports destination with unique facilities like Mt. Van Hoevenberg’s recent indoor push track — the one indoor refrigerated facility in america, which attracts bobsled and skeleton athletes from around the globe all year long.
Also, history is honored in the brand new Lake Placid Olympic Museum on the Olympic Center in downtown Lake Placid, slated to open later this 12 months. Just because it is preserved via the James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval, where the 1932 opening ceremonies were held and the primary gold medal in those games was won and awarded to Lake Placid’s Jack Shea; and where, in 1980, Wisconsin speed skater Eric Heiden won an unprecedented five gold medals. There’s also the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, the house of the best sporting event of the twentieth century, the Miracle on Ice; and the 1932 Jack Shea Arena, where every day skating is held.
“The history is incredible. However the query became is that this place one in every of relics, or does Lake Placid change into relevant?“ said Weibrecht.
Lake Placid is definitely reclaiming its place as a world-class winter sports venue beyond the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games. Next up: World Cup Ski Jumping (Feb. 10 to 12), World Synchronized Skating Championships (March 30 to April 1), and the Bobsled Skeleton World Championships is booked for February 2025.
“There may be a special connection to winter sports and the Olympics here,” said Weibrecht. “I used to be amazed at my first Olympic competition: there have been 10 or more athletes from Lake Placid. It just gets into your blood.”
