2023 Winter World University Games (Update)
Adirondack Mac the Moose is the official mascot of the 2023 University Games
This is a slightly updated repost of a blog I did in November, with a few new details!
The 2023 University Games are coming to Lake Placid, January 12 - 22. The Winter World University Games, held every two years, is the largest multi-sport winter event in the world, after the Winter Olympics of course! The games combine high-level competitive sport with educational and cultural events. University students between the ages of 17 and 25 are eligible to compete, many Olympic hopefuls.
If you’re planning a trip to Lake Placid in mid-January, here’s what you need to know about the Games.
For the 2023 World University Games, organizers are expecting 2,500 athletes and coaches, from 600 universities across 50 countries.
Most of the venues are in or near Lake Placid.
Whiteface Mountain - Alpine Skiing events including Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Alpine Combined and Mixed Team Parallel
Lake Placid Olympic Center - Figure Skating events for Singles and Ice Dance, and Ice Hockey playoffs
Lake Placid Olympic Skating Oval - Speed Skating and Short Track Speed Skating events
Lake Placid Olympic Jumping Complex - Freestyle events including Big Air and Slopestyle, Nordic Combined, and Ski Jumping events
Mt. Van Hoevenberg - Biathlon events
Saranac Lake Civic Center - Curling
Further afield - Some of the hockey games will be played at college arenas in Potsdam and Canton, and snowboard events and ski cross will be held at Gore Mountain.
The schedule of the University Games events is posted here and as a PDF here.
Similar to the Olympics, there will be an Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony. Both events will be held at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, and tickets are $45/each.
Tickets for sporting events are generally $15/each, but may vary. Be sure to purchase your tickets online in advance.
Athletes will be lodged at places like the Northwoods School in Lake Placid, Paul Smith’s College, as well as a newly constructed complex on the south end of Wesvalley (down the road from our cottage). This means that in addition to hotels and Airbnbs being full, there will be hundreds of athletes in town beyond the village’s normal lodging capacity.
Expect restaurants and shops on Main Street to be extra busy during the Games!
The outdoor festival on Main Street will have live music every night Jan. 13 - 22. The festival, which gets going around 1 pm each day, will also include warming huts, stilt walkers, snowball cornhole, libations and various sporting exhibitions. Businesses will likely shift their hours so they’re open during the busiest times of the festival — generally 1 to 9 p.m.
Main Street will be closed to thru-traffic during the University Games. It will become a pedestrian-only street from the corner of Main and Saranac Avenue down to the Grand Adirondack Hotel, and a restricted section from the Grand Adirondack Hotel down to the corner of Mirror Lake Drive where Town Hall is located.
Parking will be restricted, and many of the municipal lots will be used for shuttle buses and delivery vehicles. Parking at the venues (or in designated areas with shuttle service) will be free. For instance, the North Elba Horse Show Grounds will have free parking and shuttles that run 24/7 from the horse show grounds to the municipal lot on Main Street and back. Additionally, the following shuttle services will have special routes during the games:
Cascade Express — $2 one-way or 75cents in town; cash only
Placid XPress — free service
Whiteface Ski Shuttle — free service
