Lake Placid, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — The Lake Placid Olympic Museum is offering a new exhibit that explores the science of artificial snow and the impact it has on winter sports.
Lake Placid has hosted two Winter Olympics, 1932 and 1980, and the Olympic Museum is home to some of the most historic artifacts throughout history.
From an exhibit showcasing the Miracle on Ice to the first-ever gold medal awarded in speed skating going to Lake Placid local Charles Dutra in 1924, the museum has a special connection to the winter games.
“Our collection is over 30,000 objects and archives and our scope is the Winter Olympics as a whole,” Courtney Bastian, director of the Olympic Museum, said. “We have torch collections, we have medals, and we have objects on display from different Olympic games throughout history.”
Ahead of the Milan Cortina Winter Games, the museum is giving visitors an inside look at artificial snow.
“Snow on Demand” explores how warming winters can have an effect on the winter culture and winter sports in Lake Placid, Bastian explained.
“We deep dive into the science behind artificial snow making and how sports now cannot rely on the climate necessarily to provide a winter,” Bastian said.
The exhibit, opening in February, will offer a hands-on experience including studying snowflakes under microscopes and virtual bobsledding tracks.