Lake Placid Olympic Jumping Complex
The Lake Placid Olympic Jumping Complex is a year-round competition and training venue and an integral part of the resort’s first-class facilities.
The venue for the ski jumping events at Lake Placid 1980, the Complex, also called ‘Interval’, currently boasts K-120 and K-90 ski jump towers, two training hills, a freestyle training complex and a 2.5-kilometre Nordic ski loop and biathlon range. It has hosted a variety of international ski jumping, Nordic combined and freestyle aerials events over the years and regularly staged moguls and aerials events on the FIS Freestyle World Cup circuit through to 2019.
The US ski team’s Elite Aerial Development Program (EADP) has made full use of the Complex’s training facilities, while the Nordic ski loop and biathlon range are the summertime home of the nation’s cross-country and biathlon athlete training programmes.
Another of the venues run by the New York Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) and owned jointly by ORDA and the community, the Complex hosted events at the 2019 International Children’s Winter Games. The event brought together around 430 young athletes aged 12 to 15 and hailing from 14 countries, giving them the chance to meet and compete.
There is also much to do for visitors at the Complex. Its new SkyRide gondola system, which opened in January 2020, serves the two main ski jumps. Visitors are transported by a lift to the top of the K-120 tower, where a refurbished observation deck offers 360-degree panoramic views of Lake Placid and the Adirondack High Peaks. For its part, the 90-metre hill has a zipline that descends 700 feet to recreate the ski jumping experience.
Facilities such as these have made the Olympic Jumping Complex a popular attraction. In 2018/19, more than 53,000 people visited it, generating revenue of just under USD 1 million.
Dating back to the 1920s and refurbished for the 1980 Games, the Complex will undergo further development in preparation for the 2023 Winter World University Games in Lake Placid. The planned USD 70 million upgrade is designed to meet the FIS’ highest requirements for staging events. It will also provide the Complex with beginners’ slopes and a freeride and tubing park to encourage more local residents to use the site.