Spend one long winter weekend in Lake Placid, and you’ll find yourself fantasizing (or strategizing) about moving there. Or…at the very least, thinking about a time-share or ski house of some sort. This Adirondack town didn’t become our country’s very first winter resort back in 1904-1905 by mistake. It’s a snowy paradise set in some of the loftiest peaks of the northeast.

Over the years, it has hosted not one, but two Winter Olympics (1932 and 1980), the 2000 Goodwill Games, multiple world championships, and many World Cup competitions. The various venues are state-of-the-art facilities, almost all of which are open to the public for recreational use.

As a visitor, you can actually skate on the oval where Eric Heiden won five medals in the 1980 Winter Games, setting a record for individual gold won at a single Olympics. You can feel what many call the “champagne of thrills” by shooting down a half a mile of track in a genuine bobsled along with a professional driver and brakeman. Or you can go solo in a luge rocket whipping around more than a dozen of the most electrifyingly scary curves imaginable. If you’ve always wondered just how high ski jumps are, you can stand in the footprints where ski jumpers start their descent. You ride the chairlift, and then take an elevator up to the skydeck of the 120 meter ski jump. You can even test your marksmanship skills at the biathlon center along with the guidance of a certified instructor.