Olympic Sports Complex
Lake Placid, New York
Though they’re thrilling to watch on television, winter sports such as luge and bobsledding can seem entirely inaccessible to the public because they require specialized equipment and facilities. But at the Olympic Sports Complex at Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, New York, travelers can experience bobsledding for themselves.
“The Olympic Sports Complex was the home of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic bobsled competitions, and also the 1980 Olympic luge competition,” said Jon Lundin, director of communications for the Olympic Region Development Authority. “We currently have two tracks that we use for our bobsled experience: one in summer and one in winter. In the winter, we offer the experience on the competition track, which holds World Cup and competition meets on an annual basis.”
The complex is home to the U.S. national bobsled, luge and skeleton teams, which means that travelers who take the ride get to tackle the same twists and turns that the world-class athletes use. Two professionals go along on guest rides as well: An experienced driver and brakeman sit in the front and back of the sled with three riders in between. They careen around 11 curves on the bottom half-mile of the track, reaching speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.
“The first five to six seconds, you think it’s not too much; but then you get going,” Lundin said. “You spit out of curve 10, a huge banked curve, and you reach full speed. You get a full appreciation of how fast and big the bobsleds are. You can really feel and hear the speed as you go by, and you can hardly keep your head up to see where you’re going.”
The ride requires no special gear: Participants can wear street clothes, and the sports complex provides helmets. At the end of the 40-second experience, riders get a photo, a lapel pin and a T-shirt, and are inducted as honorary members of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.
Camelback Mountain Resort
Tannersville, Pennsylvania
Skiing and snowboarding are perennial favorite outdoor activities in wintertime, but they can prove difficult for groups because they require certain levels of fitness, skill and previous experience. To offer some of the fun of downhill winter adventure without all the fuss, Camelback Mountain Resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania has created a snow-tubing course.
“We have the largest snow-tubing park in the United States,” said Drew Brooks, director of marketing at Camelback Mountain Resort. “We have 42 lanes — it’s like a bowling alley, and you’re the ball. You slide down the hill in an inflatable tube. It’s similar to a frozen water park.”
The resort employs a “magic carpet” conveyor system that carries guests to the top of the hill. Once they reach the top, they sit in their tubes and launch themselves back down the hill, gently floating over natural ripples in the snow during the 15- to 20-second trip.
“There is absolutely no experience required,” Brooks said. “Gravity does all the work. It’s a nice alternative to skiing or snowboarding. And it’s huge for groups — you can have everyone go down at the same time like a big race.”
At the bottom of the hill, riders can sip on hot chocolate and warm up around a large bonfire.
Brooks said ease of snow tubing makes it a popular activity for families and intergenerational groups. Sessions take place in three-hour blocks, allowing participants to go up and down the hill as many times as they wish during that period.
Next winter, groups will be able to take advantage of the new hotel that will open on the mountain in the spring of 2015.
“We’re in the process of building a colossal indoor water park and hotel on the property,” Brooks said. “It will be ski in, ski out, and our snow tubing is based right on the back of it.”
