The Adirondacks' Own Olympics: Empire State Winter Games, February 4 to 7

Thomas Cavallaro · 2026-11-06

The 47th annual Empire State Winter Games fill Lake Placid and the Adirondacks with 20 sports, February 4 to 7, 2027, opening ceremony February 4 at 6:30 PM.

For four days every February, the Adirondacks stage their own Olympics.

The 47th annual Empire State Winter Games run Thursday, February 4 to Sunday, February 7, 2027, across Lake Placid, Whiteface, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, and Paul Smiths. Twenty sports, from hockey and figure skating to bobsled and ski racing, fill the Olympic venues with athletes of every age, and the whole thing opens with an athlete parade and mascot at the opening ceremony on Thursday, February 4 at 6:30 PM at the Olympic Center, in the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena.

This is the largest Olympic-style winter sporting event in the Northeast, and it is family-friendly in the best sense: you can watch world-class venues host local kids and elite athletes in the same weekend, wander the Olympic Center where the Miracle on Ice happened, and then step outside into a village that is fully, joyfully in winter.

Stay where the games are

Four days of games deserves a house, not a hotel room. The Alpine Homestead™ in Olmstedville is about 8 minutes from Gore Mountain, with five bedrooms, four baths, room for up to 12, a chef's kitchen for the big dinners between events, and a wood stove for the stories afterward. Bring the whole crew, cook together, and make the Games the anchor of a real winter weekend.

Check availability and book directly at https://thealpinehomestead.com/

We'll see you around the fire. EAT – SLEEP – SKI™.