I can’t comprehend why anyone would want to live up here; I’m from south Florida and I don’t care what anyone says, it’s colder than the dickens. Anyhow, this internship has been an experience like no other, there is no doubt about that. Besides the temperatures I’ve never experienced before, it has been eye-opening watching the different and unique types of athletes at the Lake Placid OTC. When I first got here, I had no clue what biathlon, luge, or skeleton was, but over time I’ve began to respect the athletes within each sport as well as the technical skills and ability each athletes must posses to compete in their respective sport. It’s getting annoying having to explain to all of my friends what each sport is; I’ve dumbed down luge to sliding on your back, skeleton to sliding on your stomach face-first, and biathlon to hunting on skis.
In the weight room, it has been a test of wits and patience when the international athletes are around and a test of knowledge when the US athletes are around asking for help and advice. It has been both affirming and expanding of my expertise within the field to know such athletes trust what I know and have to tell them to help them to excel. And when there are no athletes around, I usually take the time to pick Jason’s brain about college, training, life, etc, or do my own research on things I’ve discussed with him previously. Between training the athletes, researching, talking with Jason, and cleaning there isn’t a whole lot of down time. No quarrels here.
It made my transition here much more tolerable when I knew that I would have a solid friendship with the other interns. We’ve had our fair share of fun within the legal limits of our internship (as far as I can remember) which has been just as rewarding as what I do while I’m on the clock. Between the festivals, bars, and sport events, there is usually something to be experienced and enjoyed in Lake Placid…some being more foreign and bizarre then others but that’s a horse of a different color.
I plan to make the most of my last month here while I continue to pray for the snow to hold off.
-Zac Nicholas
Hello everybody, I’m Dustin du Bois the operations intern in Lake Placid. I graduated from Lynchburg College in Virginia, and I am finishing up my last semester of Graduate School at Virginia Commonwealth University in Sports Administration and Management. In case you do not know much about Lake Placid, it is in upstate New York, 2 hours from both Albany and Montreal. Pretty much you could say we are in middle of nowhere out here. The closest airports are both 2 hours away, one being in Albany and the other in Burlington, Vermont. Many tourists come through Lake Placid to see the 1980 ice arena where the “miracle on ice” took place, and to see the many other Olympic sites. From the bobsled and luge tracks, to the ski ramps and jumps, there are many attractions that make this such an interesting town. It tends to snow a lot here as well, usually starting in December. Now a days the temperature is around 20 degrees in the morning but warms up to around 45-50 during the day. Enjoy the beach Chula Vista.
In the weight room, it has been a test of wits and patience when the international athletes are around and a test of knowledge when the US athletes are around asking for help and advice. It has been both affirming and expanding of my expertise within the field to know such athletes trust what I know and have to tell them to help them to excel. And when there are no athletes around, I usually take the time to pick Jason’s brain about college, training, life, etc, or do my own research on things I’ve discussed with him previously. Between training the athletes, researching, talking with Jason, and cleaning there isn’t a whole lot of down time. No quarrels here.
It made my transition here much more tolerable when I knew that I would have a solid friendship with the other interns. We’ve had our fair share of fun within the legal limits of our internship (as far as I can remember) which has been just as rewarding as what I do while I’m on the clock. Between the festivals, bars, and sport events, there is usually something to be experienced and enjoyed in Lake Placid…some being more foreign and bizarre then others but that’s a horse of a different color.
I plan to make the most of my last month here while I continue to pray for the snow to hold off.
-Zac Nicholas
Hello everybody, I’m Dustin du Bois the operations intern in Lake Placid. I graduated from Lynchburg College in Virginia, and I am finishing up my last semester of Graduate School at Virginia Commonwealth University in Sports Administration and Management. In case you do not know much about Lake Placid, it is in upstate New York, 2 hours from both Albany and Montreal. Pretty much you could say we are in middle of nowhere out here. The closest airports are both 2 hours away, one being in Albany and the other in Burlington, Vermont. Many tourists come through Lake Placid to see the 1980 ice arena where the “miracle on ice” took place, and to see the many other Olympic sites. From the bobsled and luge tracks, to the ski ramps and jumps, there are many attractions that make this such an interesting town. It tends to snow a lot here as well, usually starting in December. Now a days the temperature is around 20 degrees in the morning but warms up to around 45-50 during the day. Enjoy the beach Chula Vista.
I have had a great time and wonderful experience living and working at the training center in Lake Placid. With the Vancouver Olympics less than 100 days away, many athletes are preparing for their World Cup seasons and Olympic trials. Every week we get different sports and new athletes, so there is never much down town. Last week figure skaters from all around the world came to compete is Skate America for 4 days. The day they left, over 100 bobsled and skeleton athletes checked in. Therefore, as you can tell we have been staying extremely busy. It has been fun to meet athletes from so many countries and learn about their sport and culture.
As the operations intern, I am mainly responsible for scheduling transportation and rooms for the athletes coming and leaving. Seeing that the closest airport is 2 hours away, it is not good when an athlete is left at either the training center or airport. Therefore, transportation is one of the most important jobs of the operations team here. I also make sure everything is working in our two Athlete Service Center’s, assist the Res. Life Coordinator in planning theme nights and activities, and making sure the roster and records are ready when the teams arrive.
I have really enjoyed my time spent here in Lake Placid, and is a place I would like to return to at some point. Everybody in the city and training center are friendly and great to be around. It has been interesting reading everybody’s blogs and sounds like everybody has had an equally enjoying experience. Best of luck to everybody.
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