First of all, you’ve come to the right place! You’ve
discovered a Touch of Finland in the Adirondacks where, for more than 30 years, instructors at Lapland Lake have introduced thousands of children and
adults to the wonderful sport of cross country skiing.
You will find our resort a warm,
comfortable and friendly place to be.
We are large enough to offer every professional service you would expect from a
nationally recognized, award-winning cross country ski center but small enough
to offer personal, individualized attention. You will find yourself feeling “at
home” in no time, and we will go out of our way to ensure all of your needs are
met so that you will have a very positive first experience.
Did you know that cross country
skiing burns an average of 650 calories per hour? For comparison,
fitness cycling averages 540, exercise walking 450 and downhill/alpine skiing
520. The endorphins released with aerobic activity boosts your well-being
and elevates your mood. Combine that with Lapland Lake's gorgeous southern
Adirondack setting and you have the perfect recipe for fitness, health and
happiness!
A BIT OF HISTORY
Olavi Hirvonen was born in Montreal during the Great
Depression and, at 8 months of age, was sent to be raised by his grandmother in
Finland. He lived through World War II there, and came to the states to rejoin his
mother at the age of 18. During his service in the United States Army as an instructor
for the Arctic Indoctrination School in Alaska, he won the Armed Forces Cross
Country Ski Championships. While operating a ski lodge in Vermont for five years, he began training for the Olympics,
ultimately earning a place on the 1960 United States Olympic Team in Squaw Valley,
California. After the Olympics until 1962, Olavi competed on and off, winning the 1962 Canadian Championships in the
30-kilometer distance, winning numerous regional and state championships and
finishing second in the National Championships for three successive years, again
in the 30-kilometer distance.
After losing his son Esa in an
accident, Olavi held fast to his dream to create and operate a cross country ski
center. After months of searching, he found and ultimately purchased, in August
of 1978, the property that was to become Lapland Lake.
He and his wife, Ann, were married in 1985. They operate the center together
with a wonderful staff of devoted employees. Their daughter, Leila, works
in Manhattan as an architectural trainee. Olavi has another daughter,
Elisa, an art teacher who resides in Princeton, NJ with her husband and two sons.
STORY TIME
Ann, in the years before she married Olavi (the founder
of Lapland Lake and former US Olympic skier who knows a thing or two about cross
country skiing), was not a skier.
As a single working woman,
Ann owned a home in upstate New York. On a wintry day, quite a bit of snow had fallen -
and it took an impressive amount of energy and time to clear her driveway.
The grumbling was interrupted by the following thought: "If you don’t like snow,
move south. If you’re going to remain in the Northeast, find something to do in the snow that
you’ll enjoy.”
Ann discovered cross country skiing, learned to
look forward to snow falling from the sky, and met and married Lapland Lake’s
owner Olavi. Now, that last part is pretty specific to Ann and Olavi, who
have been married 23 years. We don’t expect everyone to experience that
kind of fairy tale ending.
But we do guarantee this. If you try cross country
skiing, there’s a good chance you’ll learn to love it as we do. And instead of
wishing away several months of every year, you’ll come to really love winter and
the glittering snow that falls from the sky!
LET’S
GET YOU ON YOUR WAY!
CLOTHING
You should dress in light layers for a day of cross country
(xc) skiing. Clothing suitable for alpine skiing or snowmobiling will be much too warm and
bulky for this sport. XC skiing is an aerobic sport – you will perspire
even in the cold, so dressing appropriately is important. Start with a
base layer of long underwear that has a wicking property such as polypropylene
(designed to remove moisture from your skin into the fabric where it will
evaporate). Follow with an insulating layer (fleece, wool or another fiber which
will maintain insulating abilities
even when wet and which dry quickly) work well. Finally an outer layer which will
repel snow, block wind and allow perspiration to escape and evaporate.
Socks should also be made of a wicking fabric. One pair of
mid-weight socks is often enough. On very cold days, you will want to add
a liner sock next to your skin for layering warmth. And on a related note, be
sure your boots fit properly. You will want about a half-inch of space
between your toes and the end of the boot to create an air space for warmth.
Improperly fitting
boots will be uncomfortable and will make your toes very cold.
A hat is helpful to prevent body heat from escaping. This
need not be bulky – many hats on the market are made of fleece or lightweight
wool and will do the job nicely. If your body thermostat runs warm, a hat may
be more than you need. A headband will protect your ears from the wind and
cold. On very bitter cold, windy days, add a neck gaiter for added protection.
Gloves or lobster mitts (picture Dr. Spock with his Vulcan
gesture) will offer you the dexterity needed to handle cross country pole straps
most easily. Mittens are also fine, but will offer less in the way of dexterity
than a glove or lobster mitt. Fabrics should be breathable and waterproof.
Sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection should be worn.
Make sure your are intended for sporting use and are shatterproof.
We recommend using sunscreen on all exposed skin. There
are products such as Dermatone that protect your skin from the wind that contain sunscreen.
We carry all of the above
items in our Ski Shop or you may have a local sporting goods store near your
home that caters to cross country skiers.
Lapland Lake's "Finnish Line" Ski Shop
LESSONS
We recommend taking a
lesson. It is much easier to learn proper technique from one of our
professional instructors instead of heading out on your own and then having to undergo the arduous process of unlearning bad
habits. You may call ahead for a lesson reservation:
518-863-4974 or email us
vacation@laplandlake.com .
Adult beginner
group lessons are taught daily: on weekends and holidays from
11:00am-noon and from 1:00-2:00pm and on non-holiday weekdays at 11:00am.
Beginner lessons for children (ages 5-11) are taught from 10:30-noon and
1-2:30pm on weekends and holidays. Private lessons are also offered.
There are plenty of terms used to describe
different types of snow conditions. Snow is affected by moisture,
temperature and other factors. Terms to describe snow conditions include
powder, packed powder, loose and/or frozen granular and wet snow, among others.
Some of these conditions are favorable for a first-time ski experience; others
are not. When you call to sign-up for a lesson, if the snow conditions are
unfavorable for a beginner, we'll encourage you to try another day. We
want you to have the very best possible first xc ski experience.
If you need rental
equipment, we recommend that you sign up for our money-saving "Ski Like a Finn"
Lesson Package.
This $42.00 package saves $10.00 off the items purchased individually and includes your
full-day facility use pass, a full-hour lesson and rental equipment.
We also offer lessons specifically geared to children from
age 5 – 11. Kids learn differently from adults, are generally fearless (they
have less far to fall!), and love to play games while learning. Our Talvi Kids
Club for beginner skiers will have them merrily on their way after a 90-minute
lesson offered weekends and holidays from 10:30-noon and 1-2:30pm. Our
children's package includes facility use pass, rental equipment and
90-minute lesson for only $29.00.
Ski rental equipment
may be exchanged one-time per day for either snowshoes, a tube or a kicksled at no
additional cost (highest rental rate prevails).
Consider
out money-saving “Take Three and Get Seasoned” program!
This package, a $309.00 value for only
$175.00, contains three lessons: two group lessons followed by one private
lesson, including full-day facility use pass and xc ski rentals each of the
three days. At the end of your third lesson, we'll throw in a Lapland Lake Season's
Pass for the remainder of the winter season! (Season Pass members receive
25% off equipment purchases and 10% off purchases in the Ski Shop season-long
(non-sale items valued at $10 or more.)
Lessons
at Lapland Lake
YOU’RE COMMITTED – NOW
WHAT?
If you don't own ski
equipment and need to rent ours, we recommend that you arrive at least 45
minutes prior to your lesson. We are located in the beautiful, easily
accessible southern Adirondack Mountains. It is easy to reach us by car or
by public transportation.
Directions
to Lapland Lake
When you arrive, our friendly
ticket cashier will meet your car at our ticket booth on the entrance road.
This is where you will receive your facility use pass for the day. After
parking your car (free of charge), please come to the “Finnish Line” Ski Shop. This is a two-story building with several international flags waving, the US
flag along with the flags of the three countries where Nordic skiing originated:
Finland, Norway and Sweden. On the first level you will find both retail and
rental shops, complimentary trail maps, restrooms and a comfortable lounge with
a toasty woodstove and plenty of happy skiers milling about. On the second
floor there is a service snack bar (the smaller of our two food service
locations), a children’s play area, plenty of comfortable seating, cubbies for
your gear, restrooms and a shower with changing area.
After you’ve had an
opportunity to look around, please come to the retail-rental counter where we
will sign you up for your lesson, give you your instructor’s name and have you
complete a rental equipment form. You'll receive a Skier Achievement Card which will be used at the end of your lesson by
your instructor to provide feedback regarding what you have learned and where you
go from here. This card is good for a hot coffee, tea or hot chocolate at
our Tuulen Tupa Grill and for 25% off the purchase of a new ski package at our
"Finnish Line" Ski Shop. Our knowledgeable rental shop staff will first give you ski boots and will make sure they fit
you comfortably before issuing skis with bindings and poles. You will meet you
instructor right outside the “Finnish Line” – and you’ll be on your way to a
fabulous experience learning a wonderful lifelong sport!
Lapland Lake is a PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors
of America) Ski School. Our instructors have been carefully selected for their
many abilities which include not only superb xc ski technique but for their
interpersonal skills (these folks are truly delightful), and also for their
patience, gentle good humor and ability to communicate thoughtfully and clearly.
This season we have 13 instructors on staff who have over 60 (not a misprint!)
combined years’ experience teaching folks just like you how to ski right here at
Lapland Lake.
Lapland Lake’s varied terrain is perfect for skiers of every
ability level, but beginners are especially pleased to be able to learn on our
"green" trails which are flat and gentle - perfect for the first-time
experience. Our beginner lessons are a full hour in length and cover all
of the basics including how to properly put on equipment (yes, there is a proper
way to hold poles), how to move (forward!) on skis, how to fall down and how to
get back up. Instructors will work on balance and control so that at the
conclusion of the lesson you can head off onto our "green" trails to
have fun and practice what you have learned. (Other trails are marked
"blue" for intermediates "black" for experts and "double diamond" for very
expert skiers.)
NOW I’M HUNGRY!
During your
lesson you very likely will work up an appetite! Our Kuuma Tupa Snack Bar is on the second level of the “Finnish Line” Lodge. This
quick-stop location offers homemade soup and chili on the weekends and a variety
of microwaveable items, chips, hot and cold drinks, wine and beer. For a more
complete menu, take a leisurely stroll up to our Tuulen Tupa Grill (yellow
building overlooking our pond two buildings up from the Lodge) for Finnish,
vegetarian, grilled foods and fresh baked goods. The Grill is also open
for dinner service
Saturdays beginning the weekend prior to Christmas and
continuing through the third Saturday in March.
Tuulen Tupa
Menu
AND NOW YOU’RE PART OF
THE LAPLAND LAKE FAMILY!
We hope you will return again and again to enjoy the days
of winter with us. There are advanced lessons you can take, reindeer you may
visit, a full season-long calendar of events to enjoy including snowshoe tours,
reindeer jouring demonstrations (skiing behind reindeer), special ladies' days
and equipment demo days. Periodically throughout the winter season, we
offer Saturday night skiing to a lakeside
campfire, tubing on our junior hill and ice-skating on our pond. Combine
these wonderful evening activities with dinner at our Tuulen Tupa Grill for a
memorable experience! (Please check our Calendar of Events for dates when
Saturday night activities are scheduled.)
Linger even
longer by staying in one of our cozy, immaculate tupas (housekeeping cottages)
featuring fully equipped kitchens, living and dining areas, separate bedrooms,
bath with shower, electric heat and toasty woodstove (wood stove supplies and
linens are provided). As an overnight guest you are welcome to enjoy our authentic
Finnish wood burning sauna, complimentary trail use including nightly skiing,
tubing and ice-skating, and discounts on lessons
and rental gear. Massage therapy is even available to sooth weary muscles at
day’s end. Our NYS licensed massage therapist will provide massage in the
privacy of your tupa (by advance appointment).
Calendar of Events
Lapland Lake’s Tupas
Rate and Rental Information
We’re so pleased you have found us! We encourage you to
sign up for our weekly snow condition email that will provide you with current
information about snow conditions, special event and lodging information.
Snow Condition Report
IN CONCLUSION
Olavi’s wish was to create a
four-season vacation center reminiscent of Finnish Lapland. Nestled against the
stunning backdrop of the 6-million acre Adirondack Preserve, Lapland Lake offers
a simple and serene setting where friends gather for recreation and relaxation.
Here parents and their children are able to reconnect in a truly fundamental way
so often missing in today’s harried times. This very special place enables
guests an opportunity to experience the gentle wonders of nature in a warmly
hospitable Scandinavian atmosphere. We hope all who depart leave with many
lasting memories of magical moments.
And it is our hope you will
return again and again.
Olavi and Ann extend their friendship to you and offer
our warmest welcome to
Lapland Lake.
Tavataan ladulla! See you on the trails!
