LOCALadk Magazine

Personality | LOCALadk Olympic Sized Adirondack Spirit By Dave McCahill "I think it just has to do with the fact that while this place is undeniably beautiful, nobody ever said it was the easiest place to live. " Legendary Nordic Ski Coach Larry Stone For many, falling leaves and sinking temperatures serve as a jarring reminder to finish up the final preparations necessary for successful winter hibernation. Not so for many an Adirondacker, including Wilmington's Larry Stone. Having spent the better part of three decades within the Blue Line as a ski jumping coach, transforming the bravest of the North Country's youth into internationally recognized flyboys and girls, winter is the busiest season of them all. Chatting inside his former office, a stuffy cavity tucked deep inside the cavernous concrete landing slope of Lake Placid's largest ski jump, the Salisbury, CT, native recounts countless tales of his first trips to the Olympic region as a pie-eyed junior ski jumper and his subsequent years spent here as a coach for the US Ski Team and The New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF), the local ski foundation. Reminiscing fondly on his former charges, it's clear that Stone possesses an uncanny knack for grooming local youngsters into super talents. During his twenty some odd years at NYSEF, Stone helped transform a young Vermontville native named Billy Demong from what Stone calls "an over exuberant and sometimes scattered young skier" into an Olympic champion. A father of two daughters, Stone is also an outspoken proponent and driving force behind the rise of women's ski jumping; he served as coach and mentor to a young Lindsey Van during her four years at the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid and continued to mentor her as she went on to become the sport's first world champion. I ask Stone why this sparsely populated region tends to produce a disproportionate number of talented Olympic athletes in comparison to other winter sport hotbeds. Pondering for a moment, Stone replies, "I think it just has to do with the fact that while this place is undeniably beautiful, nobody ever said it was the easiest place to live. Winters are tough and most families have to drive a half hour— an hour even— just to attend practice." Stone smiles. "I think that upbringing left the Tim Burkes and Bill Demongs with a heartiness you just don't find elsewhere... a deeply rooted determination to get it done, no matter what it takes." Now retired from full time ski coaching, Stone's winters aren't any less busy. He's still out at the jumps a few days a week helping the NYSEF staff groom the next generation of talent. A lifelong musician, his weekends are spent crooning and jamming away at music venues across the North Country with his band, Stoneground Express. And there's always work to be done on his farm helping his wife, Meg, take care of their sheep, goats, and chickens on their property on the outskirts of Wilmington. Scott Mierop For Larry, it's all in a day's work. After all, winter's a busy time in the Adirondacks. LOCALadk Magazine Fall into Winter 2013 49

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