ORDA and APA open Van Hoevenberg plan for comments | News, sports, jobs

This approval was followed by a detailed presentation from Olympic Regional Development Authority President and CEO Ashley Walden and Mount Van Hoevenberg General Manager Rebecca Dayton on the upgrades and improvements planned for the sports complex. The UMP amendment would guide the project to ensure it complies with state law based on the categorization of the land on which the facility is located. UMPs are developed in collaboration with the State Department of Environmental Conservation and in consultation with the APA, whose role is to ensure that the plans are consistent with the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan.

The amendment document also lists two private consultants who assisted: The LA Group, Landscape Architecture and Engineering, PC of Saratoga Springs; and LaBella Associates on Latham.

The original UMP was developed in 1986, and the most recent UMP change occurred in 2018, when ORDA built new cross-country ski trails, ski bridges, a new sliding sports starting building, and a welcome center lodge, among other things.

On Sept. 20, the ORDA board approved $96 million in funding for slideway improvements. Many of the changes are aimed at modernizing the facility to bring it into line with international competitive standards.

ORDA President and CEO Ashley Walden and Mount Van Hoevenberg General Manager Rebecca Dayton present plans for improvements at Mount Van Hoevenberg Thursday at an APA board meeting in Ray Brook. (Corporate photo – Grace McIntyre)

“As we look to the future in the master plan, we are trying to modernize all of our infrastructure so that we can just maintain it.” Walden said, referring to the Mount Van Hoevenberg master plan during the ORDA board meeting in September.

Other changes will make the facility more efficient for staff and more accessible to spectators.

“There is a theme here. “The track built was an excellent opportunity for athletes to train and compete. We have a really good reputation.” Dayton said. “We’ve never really cared about the spectators and the other users who want to see the facility, and that’s a big focus of our work here.”

The Mount Van Hoevenberg facility outside Lake Placid is located on land classified as an intensive use area because it is a facility that hosts a large number of day-use visitors. There are two types of areas within the intensively used area. Part of the Mount Van Hoevenberg property – designated as intensive use property in the State Land Master Plan – is part of the Forest Preserve, meaning it can be used for certain recreational purposes. The remainder of the property is located on permanent use land that the state acquired from the city of North Elba specifically for the construction of the sports facility and recreation area.

The majority of development at Mount Van Hoevenberg is confined to easement properties, and most of the proposed improvements are also located on easement properties.

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Suggested management actions

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ORDA proposes the following components as part of this overarching effort to modernize and repair the Mount Van Hoevenberg facilities.

– Repair track surfaces, including turns six, seven and eight

– Expand elevated walkways for track maintenance and spectator access

– Expansion and modernization of water and wastewater supplies

– Alpine Coaster spectator improvements

– Expand existing track shading and roof systems

– Start with 1 building improvements

– Replace the Start 3 building

– Replace cooling buildings and infrastructure

– New consolidated time and operations building

– Site improvements in The Heart

– Location improvements at curve 10

– Install People Mover, design still to be determined

– Installation of the wax booth

– World Cup mountain bike route on residential areas

The public comment period runs from October 23rd to November 25th.

To read the October 15 revised public draft of Mount Van Hoevenberg’s UMP amendment, visit

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Compliance with guidelines

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The Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, first adopted in 1971, provides guidelines for the management and use of state forest lands. All land at Mount Van Hoevenberg is considered state land because the state has extensive control over the permanent easement area.

The guidelines for intensive use areas also include the provision of recreational opportunities “in a setting and scale consistent with the relatively wild and undeveloped character of the Adirondack Park.” ORDA says the new UMP change is consistent with this policy because the vast majority of changes within the currently developed area occur on easement lands rather than forest preserves.

Proposed changes include a new refrigeration building that will replace the current building, which has been in use since 1978. A small portion of the current building crosses the boundary into the Forest Preserve land, so the move will place the new facility entirely within the Forest Preserve easement lands.

“The cooling plant will be relocated from the forest preserve back into the easement, resolving a long-standing issue dating back to the 1970s.” Dayton said.

The amendment specifies the project’s compliance with other policies, such as environmental impacts. The amendment states that the plan avoids alteration of wetlands, does not involve extensive topographical changes or vegetation clearing, and preserves the scenic nature of the area.