LOCALadk Magazine

Winter 2019 LOCALadk Magazine 57 LOCALadk Lake Placid has had winter recreation at its core for over a centur y. From the Lake Placid Club at the turn of the 20th centur y to a host of major international events, athletes, spectators, and tourists have traveled from across the world to play and compete in this small Adirondack village. With the winning bid for the 2023 World University Games, the community has made a commitment to be a leader once again for winter sports in the United States, specifically in the sports of ski jumping and nordic combined. This renovation of all the Olympic sites has been made possible by a commitment from Governor Andrew Cuomo to invest $240 million into Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) venues. The goals of this spending are "improving the infrastructure of ORDA facilities to ensure they can continue to attract and support large-scale, global events, while transform- ing these areas facilities into year-round attractions." The second part of this quote from a press release from the State of New York alludes to the zip line and moun- tain coaster that are being installed at the Olympic Jumping Complex and Mount Van Hoevenberg, respectively. The jumps in Lake Placid have not seen a major renovation since the late 1990s, and as the sport has developed, a new hill profile has become necessar y to host international competitions at any level. The technique and technology, especially in the past decade, have made flyers today much more efficient than in the past. This had made many hills around the world unsafe to jump, with the best in the world essentially flying away from the cur vature of the hill even with the lowest starting speeds possible. Another factor that has made a renovation to the jumps essential is climate change. The warmer overall tem- peratures and erratic weather patterns consistently wipe out the tracks on our hills, requiring 20+ man hours to re- shape. The frequent thaws have affected all outdoor winter sports, requiring innovation and creativity to overcome sub- optimal conditions. The Slovenian company TopSpeed has developed one of the best solutions for the venue here to be able to host Olympic-caliber events, and to be able to train year- round with the least amount of down time. They have a hybrid ceramic summer track and refrigerated ice track for winter jumping that will allow jumping on perfectly level ice tracks with air temperatures into the upper 50s (Fahrenheit, but if that was Celsius that would be something special). A built-in tarp on a winch system will allow for quick cleanup after winter storms as well, which is another issue that led to long down times in the past. They also were able to build lower start positions and improve the profile of the inrun, to bring it to modern specifications. This was performed over the course of two months this summer, with a speed and ef- ficiency that was inspiring. A bonus for this proj- ect is the new lighting system that will light up the towers for athletes, spectators, and officials to host top lev- el competitions at night. There is also a color strip down the middle of the track that will give the spectators an idea of the pace of the competition, with lights matching the red, yellow, green system the athletes and coaches see, and will follow the jumper from the bar to the take-off. This year- round, state-of-the-art track is the first to be installed in North America and will bring our nation's best here to train much more frequently than in the past decade. Vermontville native, Olympic Gold Medalist, and recent Lake Placid Hall of Fame inductee Bill Demong is the Exec- utive Director of USA Nordic. He recently announced a part- nership with Paul Smith's College to help bring top level athletes in Nordic Combined here to train while pursuing a college degree, something Demong states was not an option for him at the time he graduated high school. This all helps with the long-term athlete development goals of USA Nor- dic and US Ski & Snowboard, as keeping athletes in the sport to their prime competition years (mid 20s+ depending on sport) has always been a challenge for Ski Jumping. I am excited to have the chance to put these venue im- provements to use as head coach for ski jumping/nordic combined for NYSEF (New York Ski Educational Foundation) as well as Eastern Ski Jumping/Nordic Combined. The proj- ect will also improve our small hills (HS10 -HS70), which will help the athletes in our program to develop their skills safely and effectively. There are currently over 150 athletes across 9 clubs in the northeast, and the number and quality of jump- ers stand a large chance of increasing with the completion of this project. The best jumpers in the countr y training here, showing the youth in our sport in the area how it's done, has a huge potential to inspire the next Billy Demong to tr y on a pair of jump skis. Tate Frantz Colin Delaney

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