Pretty Lake Placid Is Resort for All Seasons

No matter how many times I return to Lake Placid I always recall a summer-day scene that took place on my first visit several years ago.

A large wedding party was leaving one of the major inns, scattering across a vivid green lawn toward a row of waiting cars.

The bride, in white and noticeably pregnant, was bright-eyed and beaming. Behind her, in tears, trailed her mother. It was a scene poignant enough for artist Norman Rockwell, or compelling enough for artist Peter Paul Rubens.

Driving to Lake Placid that summer, I was also struck by the incongruity of cars speeding along the highway in the middle of July with skis and ski racks on the tops. It turned out that they were water skis. Lake Placid was hosting the North American open water ski championships.

Lake Placid, a tiny village set against lush mountain terrain in Upstate New York and one of the most famous winter vacation centers in the East, is also renowned as a summer resort.

Eternal Snowpile

A mound of snow piled year-round in front of the chamber of commerce office at the Olympic Arena attests to Lake Placid’s fame as a winter sports capital. (During the summer, shaved ice provides the snowflakes.)

Part of Lake Placid’s excitement is that the charming village served as host of the 1980 Winter Olympics and until this year’s Calgary games had the only bobsled run in North America. It was also the site of the 1932 winter games when Sonja Henie was a star attraction.

For map makers, Lake Placid must be something of a nightmare. The village is sited by two lakes, edging the southern shore on the lake that bears its name, then nearly circling tiny Mirror Lake. To compound the confusion, much of its social and recreational activity spills over to Saranac Lake, a village 10 miles west.

Rugged Scenic Setting

But the setting is superb. In the ruggedly scenic Adirondack Mountains of northeastern New York, Lake Placid is alpine in appearance: a Swisslike hamlet surrounded by high peaks, evergreen forests, brooks and lakes and air as fresh as mint.

To the south looms Mt. Marcy, at 5,334 feet the highest point in New York. To the northeast, Whiteface Mountain rises nearly a mile above sea level. New York City is about a six-hour drive south and the Canadian border is 60 miles north.

Lake Placid’s many hotels and chalets have names such as Edelweiss, Schulte’s and Interlaken; their menus feature everything from Bavarian beer on draft to Austrian classics such as sauerbraten and Wiener schnitzel. (There are also a Hilton and a Holiday Inn, if you prefer American style.)

Lake Placid Club Resort is on 1,000 acres. Founded by Melvin Dewey, creator of the Dewey Decimal System in libraries, the resort was once so elegant that if you arrived without a chauffeur, others thought that you were camping out.

Today, 130 rooms in a newer part of the building can be reserved and many houses on the property can be rented. The hotel opened 91 years ago.

Full Slate of Events

Special events seem to go on forever: Memorial Day canoe races on the Ausable River; summer ice season at the Olympic Arena with figure-skating shows and competitions; outdoor concerts, and the Lake Placid horse show, one of the largest in the United States, with more than 800 horses vying for prizes.

The summer months are filled with sailing regattas, water-ski races, bike marathons, swim meets and backpacking tours. The 6-million-acre Adirondack Park, which includes Lake Placid, offers excellent trout fishing and hunting.

Decreed “forever wild” by the New York state constitution, the unspoiled wilderness treats hikers and backpackers to the delights of lakes, streams and waterfalls galore. One of the most scenic is the 700-foot drop of the Ausable River at High Falls Gorge along New York 86.

Intervale, on New York 73, has the 70- and 90-meter ski jumps built for the 1980 Olympics and that are open all year as viewing platforms for the public.

An elevator carries visitors to the top of a jump to see what experienced jumpers face before each run. Jumpers can train even in the summer--snow is replaced by plastic mats.

Whiteface Mountain, where winter events were held, is eight miles north of the village. Halfway up the mountain (on New York 431) is Santa’s Workshop, a fairy-tale village with sleigh rides, puppet and magic shows and Santa and his helpers. Adult admission is $8.45; children 4 to 17, $5.65.

International Flavor

Lake Placid’s proximity to Canada gives the town an international feeling. Radios can be tuned to French-speaking programs and shopkeepers boast two languages. A number of European import stores offer a selection of colorful dirndls, woodcarvings and beer steins.

Visit the Swiss Shop on Main Street--it has more than 2,000 cuckoo clocks for sale. Even the drugstore across the street stocks a broad selection of European candies and imported cosmetics.

One of the area’s best-known attractions is the John Brown Farm and Grave. The 244-acre farm (on New York 73 in North Elba) was deeded to Brown, the American abolitionist, in 1849, and it was from there that he left to pursue his role in American history. He is buried near the rustic farmhouse, which still stands. The farm is open all year, Wednesday through Sunday, admission free.

Despite the activity in the Lake Placid area, the village in many ways is typical of any small town. Even close acquaintances are referred to by their full names, a small-town peculiarity.

Fathers still put together jigsaw puzzles with their children on front porches on warm afternoons, and you can pick up more headlines at Ruth’s Diner on Main Street than from the Lake Placid Weekly News.

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Piedmont Airlines, major carrier for the Adirondack region, has daily round-trip supersaver flights from Los Angeles to the Adirondack Airport at Saranac Lake (16 miles from Lake Placid) for $308 to $368, with restrictions and non-refundable; taxi fare from Saranac Lake to Lake Placid is $15.

Piedmont Commuter line offers round-trip supersaver flights to Saranac Lake from New York’s La Guardia Airport for $138, with restrictions.

Adirondack Trailways serves the Lake Placid area from the New York City Port Authority terminal on Manhattan. The one-way fare is $42.50.

Accommodations in the Lake Placid area with rates for two: Lake Placid Club Resort, Mirror Lake Drive (old and grand, with 45 holes of golf), $64, phone (518) 523-3361; Holiday Inn, 1 Olympic Drive, (overlooking lake, indoor pool, sauna, exercise room), $46-$116, phone (518) 523-2556; Mirror Lake Inn, 5 Mirror Lake Drive, landmark hotel damaged by fire in January, losing its restaurant and 12 guest rooms, but repairs were expected to be completed by the summer season (Sonja Henie stayed here when she won a gold medal in 1932), $62-$122, phone (518) 523-2544; Howard Johnson Lodge, 90 Saranac Ave., phone (518) 523-9555 (on shore of Lake Placid, indoor pool), $69-$85, phone (518)-523-9555; Lake Placid Hilton, 1 Mirror Lake Drive, phone (518) 523-4411 (convenient downtown location, two indoor pools, nightly entertainment), $84-$104, phone (518) 523-4411, and the Whiteface Resort, Whiteface Inn Road, (360-acre, all-year resort on Lake Placid, log cabins, with fireplaces), $60-$130, phone(518) 523-2551.

Recommended restaurants: Steak & Stinger, Cascade Road (decor of early American antiques is as pleasant as meals and service), $20-$30 per person; Jimmy’s 21, 21 Main St. (in a former grocery store, fun ambiance), $15-$20; Charcoal Pit, Saranac Avenue (popular steak house), $15-$20; Hungry Trout, Route 86, Whiteface Mountain (charbroiled salmon, fresh rainbow trout in secluded mountain setting with a stunning view), $10.95 to $17.95; Fredericks, Signal Hill (local favorite) $15-$22, and Ruth’s Diner, Main Street (Lake Placid institution that never seems to close, great breakfasts, from $2.50).

For more information, contact the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce, Olympic Arena, Lake Placid, N.Y. 12946; (800) 833-2521.