Our trip to Lake Placid coincided with the World Cup competition of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) which organizes all the sliding events seen in the Winter Olympics.  This includes Men’s and Women’s Skeleton, 2- and 4-Man Bobsleigh, 2-Woman Bobsleigh, and Women’s Monobob.

My granddaughter Adeline and daughter Liz were with me for this adventure.  Because of the congeniality of Jen Mott, head of Athlete Relations at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg site, our experience was extraordinary. Jen began her career as an instrumental music teacher, spent time in London, then returned to the States where she oversaw both a music academy as well as a thriving gym in Virginia.

Her love of the North Country, however, brought her back to Lake Placid and the Mt Van Hoevenberg site where she is now an employee of the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA).  Her enthusiasm for and attention to athletes participating in sliding sports is obvious, and she was extremely busy trying to manage all the demands of the international teams. Yet she was kind enough to spend time with us.

Liz and Adeline ran into Jen the day before I arrived, and she proceeded to show them all around the site, driving them up the steep hill to the start of the sliding course to watch the practices. When I arrived, we ran into Jen again, and she continued her hospitality, introducing us to various Olympic athletes.

Among the athletes we met was Elana Meyers Taylor. With five medals, she is the most successful Black athlete in the Winter Olympic history. She competes in both Monobob and two-woman Bobsleigh.  She is also the mother of two young children, so she is very busy!  What a thrill it was to meet this lovely woman.

Enjoying lunch back inside the Lodge, we saw a group of folks go by with an enormous cowbell.  Cowbells, you may know, are de rigeur at winter sports events, but this one was at least 18 inches high.  Adeline went over to ask if she could have a photo of it, and instead these kind people said they would photograph her and the bell.  The cowbell’s owner introduced herself to us as the mother of Team USA Skeleton athlete Austin Florian, the Pan American Champion of the competition. She told us all about Austin’s career in Skeleton and introduced us to him when he arrived.  He kindly gave Adeline the bib from his race. We’ll be watching his Olympic career.

Our final celebrity sighting occurred that evening when Adeline spotted the Jamaican bobsled team and had them sign her jersey.  We had been tipped off that they were staying at our hotel in Saranac Lake, and we met them after dinner.  They couldn’t have been nicer to their young fan.

What a great time we had at Lake Placid.  I’m thinking that it may make it into our annual vacation rotation.