Adirondack Family Time™

Season passes go on sale March 13th. Buy early and ski the rest of this season for free. Purchase passes at Whiteface mountain  in Wilmington New York or online starting March 13th. BTW, don't forget March 13th is also Super Sunday where adult lift tickets are only $35.00. 

A quick and easy Adirondack family activity is taking snowshoes or cross-country skis to Connery Pond. A longer ski is continuing on to Whiteface Landing.  Connery Pond is a beautiful cross-country ski or snowshoe. Located just 3-miles east on Route 86 from the Route 73/86 junction in Lake Placid. It is a level, easy path for any age.  Parking is just past the Connery Pond sign, on the right. Park and cross the highway to access the trail

Treat your little princess (or prince) to a weekend at the Lake Placid Olympic Center with Disney on Ice.  This is family time at its best!  So don't be discouraged by this warm weather, you can be back skiing the slopes of Whiteface tomorrow. Enjoy some inside activities and leave plenty of time to hit the slopes tomorrow! There are tickets still available! Times Friday, February 18: 7:00 p.m. Saturday, February 19: 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Sunday, February 20: 3:00 p.m. Monday, February 21: 2:00 p.m.   Ticket prices: $35 for rinkside seating $20 lower level seating $15 upper level seating  

Public skating on Mirror Lake!  By Diane Chase  Ice skating on Mirror Lake is just one option for getting outside, exercising and being in nature.  There is no better experience than being outside and skating on a natural pond looking out at the Adirondack High Peaks.  There are warnings in place for skating on ponds and lakes. Please heed those warnings, for your own safety.  According to the Saranac Lake Voluntary Fire Department  , "NO ICE IS SAFE ICE." • Frozen ice is seldom the same at the shore as it is in the center of the pond.  • Some Adirondack lakes are actually dammed rivers and have a current that seldom freezes (Lake Flower in Saranac Lake) 

Wii Bowling & Golf! Saranac Village at Will Rogers, Saranac Lake, N.Y.  DATE:  Every Monday TIME:  2:00 p.m. LOCATION:  78 WIll Rogers Drive, Saranac Lake  MORE:  Learn the fun and exciting game of Wii!   All seniors are invited to attend this free event in which you will learn how to play Wii Bowling and/or Golf and then compete in tourmanents.     Please RSVP by calling Jenn Grisi at (518) 891-7117

By Diane Chase Fern Park in Inlet, New York (NY)  offers free skating, sledding, snowshoeing and cross-country ski trails for just a few winter ideas. Since we try to always be prepared, the back of our mini van looks like a traveling sports shop. Ice skates, snowshoes or skis are in the back. Helmets are at the ready. Kids play on around a snow maze Our family likes to see all sorts of places around the Adirondacks. Winter looks just a bit different in the High Peaks than it does in the Central Adirondacks. A visit to Inlet allows us many opportunities to play and enjoy the outdoors and all for free. The indoor ice rink has attached warming room and restrooms The Fern Park Ice Rink is free and open to the public every day from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m (weather dependent). Fern Park Recreational Area in Inlet can be a full day activity for families or a quick stop for kids/children to release some pent-up energy. 

Lions and Rotary Club volunteers stage Tupper Lake’s first “Fire and Ice” winter golf event on February 12 at the Tupper Lake Municipal Park. The Tupper Lake Municipal Park and a number of acres of frozen Raquette Pond will be the setting for the “Fire and Ice” play beginning at noon and running until 4p.m.. Kids will love the miniature “putt-putt” course fashioned by organizers on the lakeshore area later this week. The putters and flags to mark the holes have been donated by Shaheen’s Motel, from its summer miniature golf operation.

Adirondack Trailways and Gore Mountain are teaming together to get people on the mountain.   Gore Mountain & Adirondack Trailways are announcing new bus and lift ticket packages from New York City, Ridgewood, NJ, New Paltz, Rosendale and Kingston to Gore Mountain in North Creek, NY! Service will be offered as a package ONLY and includes round trip bus transportation and either a   1, 2 or 3-day lift ticket.  Passengers must arrive the day before the first ski day begins. No other tickets will be sold to North Creek without purchasing the package.  Therefore, all passengers must purchase a package to go to  Gore Mountain . 

By Diane Chase I t wasn't so long ago that my children would not venture onto amusement rides alone. Now I am left on the merry-go-round watching while the two of them twist and turn on roller coasters with names like Hurricane and Avalanche. Somehow they convince me that going down the   Lake Placid Toboggan Chute   will not be the same thing. 

Perhaps you have not heard of the play “It Seams Like A Mystery” showing this weekend at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts (LPCA.) This play takes the meaning of children’s theater to a new level. Lake Placid High School sophomore Joan O’Leary wrote the production. Not her first foray into direction or play writing, the talented girl wrote her first play when she was only ten, and has continued to develop her passion for live theatre by continuing to write and direct original plays. From family plays to St. Agnes’s eighth grade production, Joan made the leap to the professional stage in 2010.

Mt. Sabattis is Long Lake's free sledding hill next to the Geiger Arena.  This is a great place to spend a few hours or a good portion of your day. There is also free ice skating available.  One suggestion: post one person at the top of the ridge at the bottom of the hill between your children and the street.  A long walk up Mt. Sabattis sledding hill in Long Lake Getting the boot A slippery slide! 

 CANCELLED: Birds of Prey Event sponsored by the North Country SPCA Due to the snow and very cold weather predicted for tomorrow, Mark  Manske of Adirondack Raptors has asked that the Birds of Prey event  scheduled for Friday, Jan. 21, be postponed until March or April. The  safety and comfort of the birds is his top priority and Mark is  concerned about transporting the birds from Lake Placid. We will  announce the new date for the event shortly.

2011 Adirondack Paintball Biathlon dates are: January 22, Dewey Mountain in Saranac Lake January 26, Mt Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid (TBD) February 13, Dewey Mountain February 21, Big Boulder Deer Farm in Tupper Lake March 5, Dewey Mountain (as part of Dewey Mountain Day). For $5.00 any child from 8-14 (call for more information)  can register and compete in any one of the 2011 Adirondack Paintball Biathlon Series. No experience is necessary though each participant must provide his/her own cross-country ski gear.  A traditional biathlon is divided into both standing and prone target shooting positions. Each participant must ski a specific distance, shoot from the shooting lanes and then continue skiing. Throughout all, the athlete is required to carry a rifle in a sling. Typically five targets are required during each stop. 100% accuracy is required. Either a time penalty or penalty loop is given for each target missed.