ADK Underdogs

I’ve never been to the Adirondacks… Or at least that’s what I thought. On the first day of our Forever Wild course I discovered we would be taking a field trip to the park, including a stop at Lake Placid. I was mind boggled when I heard this. I have been to Lake Placid several times before for hockey tournaments and I have seen the movie Miracle more times than I can count, but before I enrolled in our course I never knew that Lake Placid is within the blue line.  The village didn’t fit into my mental image of the Adirondacks because I always thought of a raw, untouched, wilderness filled with mountains and lakes, and spotted with a few small towns.

Lake Placid did start out as a typical Adirondack village before it quickly progressed into the popular tourist destination it is today. In the mid 1800s the population around the lake consisted of only six families who likely worked on a nearby iron ore mining operation. By the late 1800s, however, the village started to transition into a popular resort for the rich, inspiring it to be named Lake Placid in 1900. Recreational use of the land continued to increase as the village erected a speed skating arena and ski jump in 1921. Eventually Lake Placid hosted the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics, bringing worldwide attention and even more visitors to its streets.  

The village, however, is mostly remembered as the site of the 1980 Olympic Ice Hockey Semifinals between the USA and the USSR, also known as the “Miracle on Ice.” That is how I thought of Lake Placid before this course. Now, however, I see that this game fits into a recurring theme in Adirondack history-the underdog story.  The first Europeans to venture through the park, the 1980 US Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey team, the people who are trying to make a living off of the land today, have all have something in common. They have all had to overcome adversity within the blue line.

 

 Lake Placid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Placid,_New_York