Now that the Olympics are over, it’s time for YOU to try out what the pros do! From curling to skiing, this destination is perfect for winter!
If you’re like most of the world, your eyes were probably glued to the TV throughout most of February. With the Winter Olympics only coming along every four years, 2018 was a very special year for winter sports fans! To keep that Olympic spirit going strong, even though the Games officially ended on Feb. 25, all you have to do is take a vacay! Turns out, one of the most iconic Olympic destinations in the world is right in our backyard — and it doesn’t hurt that ALL winter Olympians train here either. If you haven’t heard of Lake Placid, New York, you’re about to fall in love!
For those of you who don’t know (and no judging because I didn’t know either), Lake Placid was the site of not one but TWO Winter Olympics — the 1932 and the 1980 games. In fact, the historic “Miracle On Ice” hockey game, where the Americans beat the Russians, took place here too. So basically, if you love the Olympics and you love winter activities, Lake Placid should definitely be on your radar. My boyfriend Antonio and I recently took a trip there and we had a blast trying everything from curling to skiing to bobsledding — all in the facilities where the Olympians still practice to this day! Click here to see pics from the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony.
Living in Manhattan, it’s not easy to participate in winter sports like skiing or snowboarding, so Antonio and I were thrilled to learn that Lake Placid is only a five-hour drive from the city. As New Yorkers, we don’t own a car, but we were so excited when we received a Chevrolet for the weekend that we drove up into the mountains from NYC. While driving through the snowy mountains is NOT easy, our Chevy Equinox was a total pro at handling all the ice and twisty, uphill roads. For a list of winter driving tips, click here.
While we both felt super safe and comfortable on our ride up (hello seat warmers!), the best part of our road trip was using our car’s 4G LTE WiFi and Apple CarPlay. I was able to get some work done on my laptop, stream Netflix, and upload Instagram pics all without using my phone’s data. Meanwhile, Antonio — who was driving — got to listen to his own music blasting from the speakers. Once we arrived in Lake Placid, the adventuring began!
We got to try curling inside the Herb Brooks Arena, which was actually super fun. While we weren’t playing on the same rink where the Miracle on Ice occurred, we were in the same arena, just on a smaller rink. We also took a tour of the Olympic Museum and learned all about Lake Placid’s Olympic history — TBH, it was fascinating! Any winter activity you can think of, Lake Placid has it. We could only do so much, but we had fun skiing on Whiteface Mountain, ice skating on the Olympic speed skating rink, bobsledding (highly recommend) at Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run, and going to the top of the Ski Jumping Complex — the views were insane!
Aside from Park City, Utah, Lake Placid is the only place in the country with bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton tracks in use for competitions. So if bobsledding is on your bucket list, Lake Placid is pretty much THE place to go! You can also try your hand at snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ice fishing, toboggan rides, and dog sled rides. What we were happy to find is that there’s also a lively nightlife with plenty of bars and restaurants to enjoy too. And if you’re like me, you’re definitely going to want to take advantage of the High Peaks Resort Salon & Spa!
Pro tip: we personally didn’t have any sports equipment (we just rented everything at each facility), but if you do decide to bring your own stuff, make sure your car has enough room. Our Chevy Equinox was the perfect size for piling in more people, and it had loads of storage space as well. We could have easily stashed skis in the cargo space located underneath the split-folding rear seats, which was also clutch when it came to storing our wet boots and clothing!
Tell us, HollywoodLifers — does having an Olympic-themed vacay sound like something you’d like to do?
