Fall Festivals at Gore, Belleayre & Olympic Jumping Complex Continue this Weekend
The New York Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) announces highlights from a big weekend of festivals and competitions from September 30 through October 2 at the Lake Placid Legacy Sites. Events included the Jumpapalooza – U.S. National Ski Jumping Championships, the USA Bobsled (USABS) National Push Championships, the Dick Button Artistic Skating Festival, and Oktoberfest at Whiteface Mountain.
At the Olympic Jumping Complex, where the World Cup will make its February return to the U.S., the U.S. National Ski Jumping Championships were the focus of this weekend’s Jumpapalooza festival. In the competition on the H.S. 100-meter hill, Annika Belshaw won the women’s division, having earned a total of 235.7 points, and Casey Larson won the men’s with 281.1 points. Second and third places were won by Paige Jones (223.9 points) and Samantha Macuga (209.5 points) in the women’s competition and Andrew Urlaub (266.6 points) and Erik Belshaw (253.7 points).
On the 128-meter large hill, Annika Belshaw and Casey Larson again stood atop the winner’s podium, having amassed 176.8 points with 257.2 points, respectively. In the women’s competition, Paige Jones repeated her second place win (172.6 points), and Anna Hoffman was third (129.3 points). Erik Belshaw (230.7 points) took second on the men’s large hill while Andrew Urlaub (230.0 points) took third.
At Mt Van Hoevenberg, the USABS National Push Championships featured the top bobsled athletes in the country in three days of individual and team competition that determines who qualifies for December’s FIS World Push Championship. The women’s push division winner Aja Evans set a track record with a push time of 5.574 seconds, while Martin Christofferson won the men’s push competition with a time of 5.097 seconds. Second and third places were awarded to Emily Renna and Jasmine Jones in the women’s division and Kris Horn and Adrian Adams in the men’s.
In the men’s pilots competition, Kris Horn won with a time of 5.151 seconds. Derek White and Frankie Del Duca placed second and third. In the women’s pilots competition, Sylvia Hoffman came out on top with a time of 5.519 seconds, with Lauren Brzozowski and Kaysha Love taking second and third.
Later this fall, Mt Van Hoevenberg will host the USA Skeleton Championships and the USA Bobsled and Skeleton National Team Trials.
At the Olympic Center in downtown Lake Placid, the top American artistic skating companies and some of figure skating’s most distinguished athletes and artists gathered for the inaugural Dick Button Artistic Skating Festival. This unique event celebrated the life and contributions of two-time Olympic Champion, five-time World Champion, and Emmy-Award-winning commentator Dick Button while providing an unprecedented occasion for the artistic figure skating world to advance their passions through a series of workshops and performances.
Among the most notable skating celebrities attending was Tenley Albright, M.D., the 1956 Olympic Gold Medalist and the first American woman to win the Olympics in figure skating. Tenley attended with her daughter Elin Schran, who presented an Ice Flow Workshop Sunday morning. Schran is also the choregrapher of “Serpentine Loop,” among Sunday afternoon’s performances. Renowned skating coach Stephanee Grosscup also attended. Grosscup, 2022 Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Chen’s first skating coach, spoke on her choreographic journey and demonstrated for Ice Dance International’s skating clinic.
At Whiteface Mountain, with two days of sunshine and fall foliage peaking, the first Oktoberfest event since the pandemic featured traditional German music and dance, food and beverage and craft vendors, gondola rides, and more over two full days. The festival attracted a record number of attendees – 6,311 in total – while many also ventured up the Whiteface Veterans’ Memorial Highway.
This coming weekend the fall fun continues Saturday and Sunday, October 8 and 9, with more festivals and competitions across Olympic Authority venues.
Belleayre Mountain and Gore Mountain are hosting annual fall festivals, with gondola rides to the mountains’ summits, fall foliage, family activities, food, beverages, music, and more. For more information on Belleayre Mountain’s Brews & Views Fall Festival, visit Belleayre.com. For details on Gore’s Harvest Fest / Mountain Master Craft Festival, visit GoreMountain.com.
At the Olympic Jumping Complex in Lake Placid, the Flaming Leaves Festival, October 7 through 9, will feature the FIS Continental Cup Ski Jumping competition, family activities, craft vendors, food trucks, and more. Sonic Boom and A House on Fire will provide live music on Saturday. Sunday’s living music will be The Uprooted Band with Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root. This show will be part of the Celebration of Rusted Root’s ‘When I Woke’ album, and the band will be playing it in its entirety. For details on this event, visit lakeplacidlegacysites.com.