We returned to the Lake Placid area today,stopping first at the Olympic Jumping Complex. There are two towers there for the jumpers; one is 90 meters,the other is 120 meters. The shorter jump is being used during the summer for the skiers to practice on. To make that available for them the hillside is covered with a special plastic mat which has water flowing over it. We took a chairlift and an elevator to the observation deck of the tallest tower. What an awesome view, but the height of that jump would make me turn tail and run! There was also a free-style jumping area. There the jumpers were using a pool to jump into after they did their jumps and flips in the air(with their skis on of course). The pool had 750,00 gallons of water in it. From that complex we drove to the bobsledding area. I have a picture here of some tourists in a bobsled,which has wheels on it,taking the run with a guide. For that run they use the older track constructed in 1932. It cost about $60.00 for 45 seconds of that terrifying joy ride. No,John and I did make that run. The newer bobsled run was constructed in 1980 and only cost 10 million dollars. A refrigerator unit was built under it to keep the run iced down in case mother nature did not cooperate. The money it cost to build all these structures and complexes,and keep them in running order in the off chance the olympics will be held here again is mind blowing for me. And yes,I know that in the meantime they are used for practices and smaller competitions. And there are tourists like us who pay to tour the areas. On our way back home we stopped at the Wilmington Flume,which I have pictured here. It is a fork of the AuSable river just before it runs into the lake which is in our campground.
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