Lake Placid

[xofivebyfive]

I'm so excited that my first competition is going to be at Lake Placid next week. I've heard that the area is beautiful and that the rink is very good. Can anyone tell me about their experiences with this rink, like ice quality or temperature or places to relax or any information about the Olympic Center in general? I've never been there so I'd like to know what to expect. Oh and is anyone else planning on going to this competition? Probably not but I'm just curious.

[pedonskates]

I've skated many times in Lake Placid. Each rink is very different (there are 3 in the building).
The 1980 rink is quite warm with really awesome ice. Since it's such a big space, it seems like it doesn't get that cold.
The 1932 rink is good figure skating ice and a little colder.
The USA rink is still good ice but much colder and it's more like hockey ice. It is really cold!!!

Good luck.

[flo]

It's my favorite place to skate. Enjoy.

[Isk8NYC]

It's the ISI Competition sponsored by Riverdale Ice, right? I went to that for years - got a speeding ticket on the Thruway to prove it! (Now, I ask you, how can an old station wagon filled with six women and all their luggage, skate bags, and costumes do 70mph?)

I went skating there a few summers ago and skated on the Lussi Rink for the first time. Now, I've skated on every rink in the facility! (Including the "studio rink" and the outdoor speedskating oval. Brrrr...)

What to Expect:
Crowds (although the ski centers are having a down year because of the warm weather.)
Waits for the sit-down restaurants. The pizza place on main street is just as slow if you order at the counter.
Adorable little shops filled with souveniers all along the main street.
Crowded stands for the kids' events, less crowded for the adults. :??

Lots of walking - the town isn't THAT big, and parking isn't always easy to find.
Snow. There's no "dry pavement" rule in upstate NY, and it snowed EVERY DAY that I was there, even if it was just a flurry.
Pin trading is supposedly still in vogue, so if you have a Club/Rink pin, bring a few to exchange with others.
Make new friends, have lots of fun.

I doubt that the lakes are frozen, but when they are, a dogsled or toboggan ride is a blast!

If you want to save some money, check out the little tourist booklets and magazines for coupons. There's an index in the back - anywhere you eat or shop, check for a coupon before you order.

Enjoy and have a good time.

[Petlover]

Good luck! Enjoy it, and have fun. Let us know how you do!

[xofivebyfive]

Thanks for all your information! Yeah its the ISI competition. Sounds like I lucked out with having all 3 of my events in the 1980 rink! I hate the cold so the warmer the rink, the better! When you say the stands are crowded for kids and not so much for adults, would you say that a 13-15yr level for FS2 would be watched by a lot of people? I really don't like people watching me.. haha.

[HelenC]

Our team just came back from Lake Placid. We were there for a synchro competition this weekend. We had the most wonderful time!

It was warm and rainy Friday and Saturday, and sunny and cool on Sunday. The rinks, dressing rooms, and halls were warmer than the last time I was there for AN 2000. We were comfortable in the 80's rink, never felt cold waiting in our competition outfits. I was OK practicing in a T shirt in the USA rink after warming up. Dressing in layers that you peel off is good.

I had gone there several years with my daughter for the ISI competition. I don't remember there being a large crowd for any one event, so you shouldn't worry about that. It was always a lot of fun for everyone, the kids, the teenagers, and adult skaters.

If you have a chance, skate on the speedskating oval next to the indoor rinks. Competitors got a free pass (maybe you'll get one too) to a public session. We went on Sunday at 1 pm at the beginning of the session when it wasn't crowded. Here is a photo:
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o216/NYWomen/Oval09.jpg

For lunch I would recommend The Brown Dog Cafe at the other end of Main St across the street from the Hilton. The sandwiches are delicious (about $8). Portion are large, with cole slaw and pickle- could feed 2. Nice view of the lake.

For dinner Nicola's across the street from the rinks on Main St was nice. They served our large group quickly. Very tasty mediterranean dishes. I had a delicious artichoke and olive pizza $12 (I doggy bagged half). The pastas come in 3 portion sizes.

We also had dinner at a lovely small restaurant, Cafe Rustica, in the Price Chopper (supermarket) complex on Saranac Ave. Very close if you have a car.

[techskater]

You missed the AN staple, though, if you didn't go to the Brown Bear!!

[HelenC]

The Brown Bear was great for getting coffee or hot chocolate for those early practices during AN. This time we rented a house and had breakfast in. Also we had so many leftovers from all those large lunch and dinner portions!

[LIskate]

Oh and is anyone else planning on going to this competition? Probably not but I'm just curious.

We will be there with our daughter. She will be skating FS1 10 yr old.
We are very excited as well. We have never been there either. Her coach has a house up there, and loves it.

xofivebyfive, Good luck in the competition, and most importantly have fun :)

[LWalsh]

The Brown Bear was great for getting coffee or hot chocolate for those early practices during AN. This time we rented a house and had breakfast in. Also we had so many leftovers from all those large lunch and dinner portions!

I was there for New Years and the Black Bear is closed now. Apparently they knocking down the building. The chef moved over to the place that used to be Goldberries (now called Charlies). It's much more upscale now. The food looked good but the decor is not very Adirondack-y, too trendy for Lake Placid IMO. I second the Brown Dog for lunch or dinner. They have an exetensive selection at the the wine bar too.:)

LWalsh

[Isk8NYC]

The Lake Placid / Riverdale Ice competition is being webcast online from 1/12-1/14/2007. Full viewing access is $9/day or $25/all 3 days. Just a thought, if you have friends or family that want to watch the skating. (ISI Spotlight events are a blast, btw.)

http://livebroadcast.tv/isi.htm#1

The competition itself takes place from 1/11 to 1/14/2007.

Good luck, xofivebyfive!!

[flo]

The luge ride was a blast.

[HelenC]

If you have a car, it's good to bring your own fruit. The snack bar at the rink was sold out. A few sanck bars on Main St had some, but they were about 85cents each for an apple, banana, or orange.

[xofivebyfive]

We will be there with our daughter. She will be skating FS1 10 yr old.
We are very excited as well. We have never been there either. Her coach has a house up there, and loves it.

xofivebyfive, Good luck in the competition, and most importantly have fun :)
That's awesome! I bet she's as excited as me! I'll be doing FS2 15yr old. and artistic 2. Yeah.. I'm so EXCITED that I haven't really slept for the past 2 days.. :frus:

The Lake Placid / Riverdale Ice competition is being webcast online from 1/12-1/14/2007. Full viewing access is $9/day or $25/all 3 days. Just a thought, if you have friends or family that want to watch the skating. (ISI Spotlight events are a blast, btw.)

http://livebroadcast.tv/isi.htm#1

The competition itself takes place from 1/11 to 1/14/2007.

Good luck, xofivebyfive!!
Thanks so much! I'll let you guys know how I do when I come back. :)

I think both sets of grandparents and my dad(for thursday at least) have already signed up for the online viewing.. lol.

[LIskate]

xofivebyfive,
She's doing FS1, Spotlight, and Artistic.
According to the schedule they have online, it looks like the FS is friday morning, and the other two are on saturday.

[xofivebyfive]

xofivebyfive,
She's doing FS1, Spotlight, and Artistic.
According to the schedule they have online, it looks like the FS is friday morning, and the other two are on saturday.

She's doing spotlight?! Dude, I am so there! I'm pretty sure my butt will be glued to the bleachers for about 4 hours while all the spotlight programs are being done! And I'll be at the rink to see artistic 1 because my artistic is basically right after that. Tell her good luck for me! Let me know how she does. I'll be sitting there wondering which one is your daughter.. ha! :D

[xofivebyfive]

Okay so I'm home. And it was.. an interesting couple of days.

Wednesday day night- I did my final runthroughs of my programs to the music, and my right skate laces kept popping off, so the skater basically was barely on my foot. I also fell while doing a lunge. That's sad.

Thursday- I got slammed into by a higher level skater on practice session, when she wasn't paying attention and I was in a spin. So I hurt my arm pretty bad. Then, after dinner(at Cameron's which has amazing fried clam strips and grilled chicken, by the way), I slipped down they icy stairs and sliced open my finger, smacked my back and my ankle and slammed my elbow into something and somehow I ended up with a bruise on my knee. So basically it hurts to move my right arm and at this point I have tendonitus in one ankle, a huge bruise on the other, can't move my arm, and can barely bend over. Great.

Friday- Friday I got up and went to practice in the morning and everything still hurt so bad, but I wasn't going to not skate after everything that I've done in order to prepare. So as they are about to call our group to go warmup, I go to stand up and my skirt is stuck in the chair. My mom was freaking out trying to pull it out and I lost about 20 seconds of warmup, but whatever. During my FS2 program I basically looked extremely stiffer than usual and I wobbled out of my spin but I managed to throw it back in at the end and I ended up getting 2nd. But the girl that was my coach's student who was also in my group got last, which I really don't understand because she was amazing. And the first place girl.. eh. not so much.

Saturday- Today was my artistic program, which I love because I skate to Because of You by Kelly Clarkson which is my favorite song. My tendonitis ankle hurt so bad that I could barely walk on it but I wanted to skate anyway. So I go out to center ice and go into my opening pose, and I wait... and I wait... and I keep waiting. They told me to go to the music box and I had no clue where that was.. but then I found it and they said my CD was extremely scratched up and asked if I had another one. I went over to where my mom was sitting and she gave me the extra. Then I went back out and waited again.


And I kept waiting. and then I had to go back to the box and they asked if i had a cassette tape. My coach came over and said that she hadn't brought the tapes because the announcement had said they wouldn't accept tapes. Greaaat. So they asked if I wanted to skate to someone else's music. I said no because it wouldn't be the same. I would be trying to adapt and the movements would look off. So then they said can you do it without the music. So I decided to do that. I told the judges what my music was so they'd know what I was supposed to be skating to. SOOOOO I go back out and I start my program like I do when I runthrough it without the music, and a couple of seconds in, I hear like, really really loud applause.

I guess they didn't realize that I was doing the program until then. It was really nice because everytime I did basically anything, the audience clapped really loud and that was really really nice to know that the crowd was supporting me. So I think I skated really well, and my sit spin was good and my salchow was really nice and even though everything hurt, I'm glad I did it. So when I was done there was like thundering screams and yelling and clapping and I thought that was so sweet. I felt so horrible that I couldn't skate with my music but I guess I must have done something right since I got 1st place!

It was a very long weekend, but I guess I'm glad all the bad things that happened, happened. So now I shouldn't be surprised by anything else, since anything bad that could have gone wrong, went wrong. And it turned out okay. So that's my story. I just wanted to let you guys know. Once I get the dvd of my programs I'll try and figure out how to upload them so I can share them with you all.

[Debbie S]

Congratulations!

I hope your bruises and tendonitis heal quickly.

[phoenix]

Thank you for sharing your story!

You have a great outlook on the whole experience, and you're right---part of competition is gaining the experience & dealing w/ whatever comes up, and learning to block it all out and just go on. It sounds like you conquered the circumstances with flying colors!!

Congratulations on your results, and congratulations on coming out of it all alive! :bow: :bow:

[mikawendy]

Congratulations, and good job on keeping your focus despite all of the things that happened to you and your music. (And how aggravating that they said no tapes would be accepted, then asked for one!!)

[xofivebyfive]

Thanks everyone! It was a really fun experience, minus all the sucktastic parts.. the area was very nice and I think I'd like to go back again next year, despite all of its problems.:D

[Casey]

Awesome story - I would love to watch the video. :)

What are you doing about your tendonitis? Any extra pads or anything?

[Ice Dancer]

As I was reading that I was feeling more and more sorry for you, I know what it is like to look forward to something and then for it to go bad, but what an outcome! Well done!!!

Hope you feel better soon.

[Isk8NYC]

I'm glad you had an overall good experience, even if there were a bunch of bumps along the way.

Was there snow? They've been pushing Whiteface skiing trips on the radio down here, which is really unusual.

[dbny]

Thursday- I got slammed into by a higher level skater on practice session, when she wasn't paying attention and I was in a spin. So I hurt my arm pretty bad. Then, after dinner(at Cameron's which has amazing fried clam strips and grilled chicken, by the way), I slipped down they icy stairs and sliced open my finger, smacked my back and my ankle and slammed my elbow into something and somehow I ended up with a bruise on my knee. So basically it hurts to move my right arm and at this point I have tendonitus in one ankle, a huge bruise on the other, can't move my arm, and can barely bend over. Great.


I had already seen your post in the other thread about winning a gold an silver, so when I read this, it cracked me up as a classic comedy of errors. Then I read on and saw the other things that went wrong for you 8O. All I can say is: WAY TO GO :bow: :bow: :bow: !

[Mrs Redboots]

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

What a truly inspiring story! You must be incredibly proud of yourself - and I bet your Mum's totally proud.

[xofivebyfive]

Awesome story - I would love to watch the video. :)

What are you doing about your tendonitis? Any extra pads or anything?
I'm just supposed to be resting it. The doctor said to not skate for two weeks.. so for the next two weeks, no jumping or spinning or anything skating involved, sadly.

I'm glad you had an overall good experience, even if there were a bunch of bumps along the way.

Was there snow? They've been pushing Whiteface skiing trips on the radio down here, which is really unusual.
There was a couple of inches I think. A lot more snow than I've seen all winter anyway, since NJ doesn't have any snow. It was actually quite nice to see some white stuff at this time of the year, although it was FREEZING.. and there was so much ice, hence the falling.

[xofivebyfive]

I had already seen your post in the other thread about winning a gold an silver, so when I read this, it cracked me up as a classic comedy of errors. Then I read on and saw the other things that went wrong for you 8O. All I can say is: WAY TO GO :bow: :bow: :bow: !

Ha! When I told my friend Christina all she said was, "This is the kind of stuff that you can't write." I kept thinking while this all was going on, "Man, this will make a great story.." :lol:

[LIskate]

xofivebyfive,
Sorry to hear about all the troubles you had.
We were there cheering for you when you skated without your music.
You did a awesome job!! Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself even with all you had to deal with.

Things went good for my daughter as well.
She did however take a really bad fall when skating off the ice after her warm up for her freestyle on friday. She was histerically (sp?) crying and set to skate seconed. A very nice woman who was a coach of a another skater ran up to the judges an told them to put her last in the group. It was SO nice of her to do that when she had her own skaters to worry about. She was with a team from NJ.
Saturday she had her Artistic, and Spotlight. Those went well. She took second in artistic, and third in Spotlight. She skated to Elvis, Jailhouse rock in artistic, and to Surfer girl in spotlight.

Congrats on your well deserved gold medal!!!

[xofivebyfive]

Your daughter was the jailhouse rock girl? OHMYGOSH I loved her!! She was so good during her artistic! What place did she end up with?

Nevermind. HA! Congratulations to her! She definitely deserved it IMO.

And thank you for supporting me. LMAO.

[xofivebyfive]

If anyone is curious to see what I looked like, here is a really bad quality video of my artistic and freestyle.

Try to ignore my talking and singing to myself.. :lol:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HfvcthIXJ-g (Artistic)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7zbheGwEajQ- FS

[LIskate]

Your daughter was the jailhouse rock girl? OHMYGOSH I loved her!! She was so good during her artistic! What place did she end up with?

Nevermind. HA! Congratulations to her! She definitely deserved it IMO.

And thank you for supporting me. LMAO.

Yeah that was her. She has so much fun doing that program. It's definately matches her overly energetic 10yr old personality LOL.

It was our pleasure supporting you. I was so happy to hear everyone there cheering you on.

[xofivebyfive]

It was our pleasure supporting you. I was so happy to hear everyone there cheering you on.
So was I! :bow: It was just the most nervewracking thing ever.. I have no idea how I managed to not collapse.

[mikawendy]

So was I! :bow: It was just the most nervewracking thing ever.. I have no idea how I managed to not collapse.

I know what you mean about competing being nervewracking!!! The first time I competed (last year), I was a bundle of nerves before, during, and after. During my skate, part of me was "who cares how I place, let this be over so my nerves can go away!!!" :lol:

And then I was trembling afterward for about 15 minutes and could barely gather myself! (But flo was there and brought me my guards, towel, shoes, etc. :D )

Anyhow congratulations to you xofivebyfive and to LIskate's daughter for going out there and having a good time in spite of the nerves!