How the Snow on Demand exhibit explores the past, present, and future of winter.
As Lake Placid approaches the 100th anniversary of its first Olympic Winter Games, the Lake Placid Olympic Museum invites visitors to explore one of winter’s most important stories. Its new Snow On Demand exhibit examines how winter shapes our region, how technology is transforming winter sport, and how communities are adapting to ensure future generations continue to experience life on snow and ice.
Perspectives from Local Experts
“The advantage we have in Lake Placid is that we’ve been dealing with the inconsistent snowfall for so long,” says Andrew Weibrecht, a local US Skiing Hall of Famer and two-time Olympic medalist in alpine skiing. “We typically have cold temperatures but not always the volume of snow, so we invested in the infrastructure to make snow.”
“While the West traditionally enjoyed more snow, many areas no longer have the consistently cold temperatures they need for snowmaking. There they may now face a more difficult path forward than we do here because we’re fortunate to still have the cold temperatures needed to produce snow.”
Whiteface Mountain’s General Manager Aaron Kellett agrees, noting the exhibit captures both the challenges of inconsistent winter weather and the remarkable evolution of snowmaking his teams leverage to overcome them. “The technology we were using 20 years ago,” says Aaron, “compared to where we are today is night and day. This exhibit does a great job in showing just how far snowmaking has come and how those advances matter.”
“It’s well designed and very engaging,” says Naj Wikoff, an artist, journalist, and pioneering leader in business and the local community. “The exhibit includes the science and technology aspects, which are very important, but also all sorts of examples.”
Fading Photos and Future Winters
“Some memories don’t disappear all at once. They fade slowly, like an old photograph,” say the bittersweet lyrics in a soulful old song.
Like old photos, our winters could slowly change in ways future generations may never experience firsthand. But just as the Olympic Museum preserves historic images, we can preserve our winters, too. It all begins with understanding the forces shaping winter and the innovations helping communities adapt and sustain the traditions that define them.
Ironically, our local experience with snow deficits began well before climate change. In 1932, the Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid were threatened by unusually warm temperatures, forcing organizers to shovel in snow from surrounding woods and even transport it by train.
Heavy winter storms arrived a few days before the Opening Ceremonies, providing a more solid base needed for competition. Even before all that, organizers made the trailblazing move to build the first indoor ice arena ever used for Olympic competition.
Then in 1980, Lake Placid faced a similarly unusual situation due to the worst snow drought since 1887. The hardship produced further innovations, and those Games became the first Winter Olympics to use artificial snow. The region’s normally cold temperatures made good snowmaking possible even despite the comparatively crude snowmaking equipment in those early days.
Ever since, increasingly unreliable snowfalls have forced host cities to increasingly rely on artificial snow. Nearly 100% of the snow was artificial in Beijing in 2022 as was 85% or more in 2026 in Milano-Cortina.
The Snow On Demand exhibit does more than recount that history. It tells the story of our local culture of winter sport, the science of snow, the advancements in snowmaking technology and their impacts, and the future of winter sport and recreation.
Restoring Our Region’s Prominence
A thriving winter sport and recreation scene in the early part of the 1900s established Lake Placid as one of the world’s premier destinations for winter sport, a reputation that led to hosting the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games. Today, the modernization of the Olympic Authority venues strengthens the region’s ability to host World Cup and World Championship events while enhancing opportunities for recreation, athlete development, and year-round tourism. And it’s helping ensure the region remains a place where winter sport and recreation can thrive for generations to come.
Modernizing the venues has included upgrades to the systems necessary to ensure consistently outstanding winter conditions with environmental sustainability as a priority.
“It’s all improved,” says Andrew. “At Whiteface, the snowmaking team is getting the mountain open from the top and getting the full length of the mountain done more quickly. So, although weather can be more challenging, we now have longer seasons, and the surface we’re skiing on is exponentially better than it was 20 or 30 years ago when I was growing up here.”
He also recognizes the quality of artificial snow is far superior to what it was. Through video and interactive displays, the exhibit dives into the nature of snow and how advances in snowmaking technology produce better snow.
Aaron confirms the difference it’s making for skiers and riders. “We’ve heard so much positive feedback, this year and last year, too. I’m super proud of our team out there 24/7, braving the elements with 900 pounds of water pressure running next to them. The technology helps us tremendously, and our staff are embracing it and taking advantage of it and getting it done.”
He also notes, “I love that there’s a video here in the exhibit that shows our white face crew and gives their perspective. I think it’s doing a good job of telling the story.”
Grooming technology and grooming crews play a major role in those improvements, too. “Word about the quality of the grooming is getting out in waves from people who ski there on a regular basis,” says Naj, “and our reputation for the quality of the grooming of our snow is growing every year.”
Delving into the science and technology of snowmaking, the exhibit highlights the many important advancements at Olympic Authority mountains. Among the more surprising ones is the use of drones to map the mountain and keep track of snow depth across the network of trails. It’s a high tech move that empowers crews with greater information, enabling them to make snow where it’s needed most.
As Andrew noted previously, even advanced snowmaking systems need cold temperatures. Curators of the Snow On Demand exhibit include references to a Scientific American study that lists Lake Placid as one of only four previous hosts of the Winter Games who will remain a reliable host for major winter sport events through 2050. This changing climate research is illustrated in an interactive display that provides the ski jumper’s unique aerial perspective, allowing visitors a virtual flight through the air and across time to witness snowfalls decreasing year after year.
A New Perspective on Winter
Working with the world’s second largest collection of Winter Olympic artifacts, the curators of the Lake Placid Olympic Museum have created an exhibit that connects history, science, innovation, and personal stories to deepen visitors’ understanding of winter.
Though it’s only part of a visitors’ overall museum experience, the new Snow On Demand exhibit brings vital considerations into play. It offers a well-researched context that shows how we are advancing the legacy to maintain it far into the future. It is a timely story for anyone who values the history, culture, and traditions of winter in Lake Placid and beyond.
About the overall exhibit experience, Aaron says, “It’s great education, and it’s a great story. Even just the industrial components of snowmaking and the success story of the advances in efficiency over the past 20 years is an amazing story to take in.”
Naj adds to that perspective saying, “We’re on the leading edge of the learning curve in preserving winter, and that puts us in a good position to serve as an example on how to operate winter sport venues and do it sustainably.”
“The synergy of the whole exhibit makes it pop,” concludes Andrew. “It’s not just about climate or sustainability, and it’s not doom and gloom. It presents a problem and shows the whole range of current and future solutions and how it affects us all.”
A tour through the Lake Placid Olympic Museum is an exploration of ideas, history, and cultural perspectives. While the overall Museum experience engages curiosity, encourages reflection, and sparks conversation, the new Snow On Demand exhibit offers a timely story of the season that shapes life in the Olympic Region.
Winter is the foundation of our Olympic Region’s identity and has been for the communities surrounding Whiteface, Gore and Belleayre Mountains. Today, preserving that legacy requires more than remembering the past. It calls for an understanding of science, an appreciation of innovation, and a deeper awareness of how communities are adapting to climate change.
The Snow On Demand exhibit reminds us that winter’s story is still being written, and invites visitors to explore the history, challenges, and innovations that continue to shape its future.