Detour
Fun and (Olympic) Games
Mo Rocca
experiences his
own miracle on
ice in Lake Placid
BY MO ROCCA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRIS QUA
Driving along Route 73 through New
York’s Adirondack Mountains toward
the lovely village of Lake Placid, one
can’t help thinking of Jurassic Park: Two
ski jumps ( 90 and 120 meters) loom like
prehistoric giants against a backdrop of
rolling hills and mountains.
But these ski jumps—and everything
else built for the Lake Placid Winter
Olympic Games—are alive and well, and
in full use year-round.
Some towns seem scarred by their
Olympic experience—saddled with
debt, blighted with decaying facilities.
Lake Placid, on the other hand, is a winter (and summer) wonderland in large
part because the Games were held there
twice, in 1932 and 1980.
Little Games
Everything for the Games was built to
scale in this cozy town of fewer than 3,000
people. In fact, the 1980 Games were
known as the last small-town Olympics.
(How small-town? The Olympic torch was
visible from every part of Olympic Village.)
