Welcome to the village of Lake Placid, NY, home of the III and XIII Winter Olympic Games.
This virtual cache has been placed as a dedication to the American athletes who won gold metals in both Olympiads. All answers to the questions below can be answered from the posted coordinates, which is at a viewpoint above the Olympic skating oval and near the 1980 Olympic Arena. Please be mindful of traffic as you approach the coordinates, especially on busy days. Parking can be found nearby on Main St., if it’s a busy day you can park at the provided alternative parking. Please do not park behind the nearby high school. You may send answers at a later date as this will be a vacation cache for many, but I will keep track and delete found logs that don’t eventually send answers.
1932
The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games, were held in Lake Placid, opening on February 4 and closing on February 15. The games were the first winter Olympiad held in North America and were awarded to Lake Placid in part by the efforts of Godfrey Dewey, head of the Lake Placid Club and son of Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System. The USA won the medal tally with a total of 12 medals (6 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze). This was the only time the US topped the medal tally at the Winter Olympics. Other than hockey, all events took place outdoors. Demonstration sports included curling and dog sled racing. Seventeen nations participated in the games and were probably most remembered as the second of three games featuring figure skater Sonja Henie.
Jack Shea was an American double-gold medalist in speed skating in Lake Placid. He was the first American to win two gold medals at one Winter Olympics, winning the 500 meters in a then Olympic record of 43.4 seconds, followed by a win in the 1500 meters the next day. Jack was a life-long resident of Lake Placid and was the patriarch of a family with three generations of Winter Olympians. His son, Jim Shea Sr., was a 1964 Olympian in Nordic Combined and Cross Country Skiing; his grandson, Jim Shea Jr., was the gold medalist in men's Skeleton Sledding at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Jack was instrumental in returning the games to Lake Placid in 1980. In the lead-up to the Salt Lake Games, Jack participated in the Olympic torch relay, lighting a cauldren at the speed skating oval in Lake Placid where he had won his medals in 1932. Sadly, Shea died 17 days before he was to watch his grandson participate in the Salt Lake Games, killed by a drunk driver.
Irving Jaffee, Jack Shea’s teammate on the speed skating team, would himself bring home the gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races. In the 10,000-meter race, Jaffee won in a thrilling finish by leaping across the finish line ahead of his competitors. Later, he would be forced to pawn his gold medals to survive in the Great Depression. Jaffee was born to Jewish parents who had emigrated from Russia in 1896, and has been elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. In a different time in America, Jaffee recalled that there were signs in Lake Placid that said "No dogs or Jews allowed".
Over at the bob sled track on Mt. Van Hoevenberg, brothers Curtis and Hubert Stevens would slide to the gold in the two-man bobsled, posting a combined time of 8:14.74 minutes for four runs. The national champion for bobsleigh in the two-man event is named in Curtis Stevens' honor.
A week later, Eddie Eagan, Billy Fiske, Clifford Gray, and Jay O’Brien would bring home their own gold in the four-man bobsled, besting USA Team 1 by two seconds. Eagan, a Rhodes scholar, is notable for being the only American to win gold at both the Summer and Winter Olympics, winning gold as a boxer in the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games. The runs at Lake Placid were the first time Eagan had sat in a bobsled. Team captain Fiske was instrumental in developing the Aspen ski resort in Colorado. Later Fiske would become one of the first Americans to be killed in World War II, having volunteered for the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain. In addition to Lake Placid, Gray, an actor, songwriter, and playright, moonlighted at bobsledding; he also won gold four years earlier in St. Moritz. O’Brien won silver in the same event four years earlier; at 48 he was the oldest Olympic champion at the time.
1980
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, were held in Lake Placid, opening on February 13 and closing on February 24. The games were the third winter Olympiad held in North America and were awarded to Lake Placid in 1974, beating out Vancouver, British Columbia. The USA won the exact same combination of medals (6 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze) as it did in 1932, although this time outdistanced by the Soviet Union and East Germany. 37 nations participated in the games, including the first games for the People’s Republic of China. Highlights of the Olympics included Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark, British figure skater Robin Cousins, and the 15 km cross-country skiing event in which Sweden's Thomas Wassberg edged out Finlan's Juha Mieto by just 0.01 of a second. The 1980 games were mostly overshadowed by current events, including the Iranian hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
On the speed skating oval below you, Eric Heiden was the only athlete to win five gold medals in one Winter Olympic Games. Erik outskated all challengers to win at the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m, and 10000m distances, setting four Olympic records and the world record at 10000m. Erik single-handedly won more gold metals than any other nation other than the USSR and East Germany. Even more impressively, Erik won at both the short and long distances events, in a sport where most skaters stick to just one discipline. Erik would later admit that he won his fifth event while a “little under the weather” from celebrating the event of the night before, which brings us to…
No one expected much from the USA hockey team coming into the Olympics. A collection of college kids and recent graduates, none of the young men had played professionally and had only skated together a few months, led by coach Herb Brooks. The team unexpectedly opened competition with a 2-2 tie against a strong Sweden team, followed by a dominating 7-3 win over favored Czechoslovakia and a 5-1 win over Norway. Everyone began to take notice after a 7-2 win over Romania, but a 2-4 loss to Germany cost the USA a chance to win their group pool. All of that was likely for nothing, as the team would draw the Soviet Union in the metal round. The Red Army team had been a dominating force for 30 years, winning the past four gold medals. But on February 22nd, 1980, in arguably the greatest moment in American sports, the USA upset the mighty Soviets 4-3 in what became known as the “Miracle on Ice”. Hold your ear up to the building behind you, and you can still “U S A! U S A!” ringing in the walls. Sometimes lost in history was this was not the gold medal game. Team USA would then go on to defeat Finland 4-2 to bring home the gold in front of an ecstatic crowd. Three cheers to Bill Baker, Neal Broten, Dave Christian, Steve Christoff, Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, John Harrington, Steve Janaszak, Mark Johnson, Rob McClanahan, Ken Morrow, Jack O’Callahan, Mark Pavelich, Mike Ramsey, Buzz Schneider, Dave Silk, Eric Strobel, Bob Suter, Phil Verchota, and Mark Wells.
To claim credit for this virtual cache, please answer the following questions. All answers can be seen from the posted coordinates.
1. What other Olympic venue can be seen in the distance? (Hint: right of the pine trees.)
2. To the left across the street from the skating oval is a building with a white cupola. What four words can be seen on this building?
3. On the Olympic arena behind you, how many upright structural beams are there?
4. You are standing under 37 flag poles representing the nations that participated in the 1980 games. What nation's flag is located closest to Main Street?
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.