Lake Placid Olympic Museum exhibit explores the science, future of snow

In time for the opening of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the Lake Placid Olympic Museum has unveiled a new permanent exhibit that educates visitors about and celebrates a crucial part of winter sports: snow. “Snow on Demand” leads visitors through an interactive experience that offers a different perspective on the Olympic story, what makes Lake Placid such a special winter sports destination, and the community’s sporting future. 

The exhibit tells this story by linking displays on natural snow, the introduction and impact of snowmaking, and how a changing climate affects winter sports, athletes, and the communities that rely on cold, snowy winters. 

When developing a new permanent exhibit, museum director Courtney Bastian said the staff asked themselves, “What was missing?” For a community in which the Olympics and winter are so much a part of the local identity, addressing the changing winters seemed like a natural fit. It also gave the museum the opportunity not just to look back into the past, but also forward, into what Adirondack winters may look like in the future and the positive and negative impacts of humans.

Snowmaking science and the 1980 Legacy

In 1980, Lake Placid Games became the first Winter Olympics to use artificial snow, a move  that many said “saved” the Games. Since then, artificial snow has been increasingly used by host cities, as climate change affects  weather patterns, temperatures and precipitation. In Beijing in 2022, almost 100% of the snow at the Games was artificial. 

One section of the exhibit explores  the science of snowmaking, how it has improved over time, and what is done locally to maximize the natural snow the Adirondacks receive. This includes using drones to map the depth of the snowpack, so that crews at places like Whiteface Mountain can determine where to add artificial snow. To create the displays, museum staff worked with exhibit designers and staff at the Olympic Legacy Sites to better understand the science behind snowmaking. 

The exhibit highlights a Scientific American report that found greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate by the middle of the century, Lake Placid will be one of only four locations in the world that can reliably host major winter sports events. That idea is illustrated through an interactive ski jump activity:the visitor takes on the jumper’s perspective, but as they land, time moves forward, with the snow cover growing thinner every year. By 2126, the ski jump is surrounded by green, with no natural snow.

Experiencing climate change firsthand

The museum’s upgraded bobsled experience is an interactive ride that offers two options: the refrigerated track  at Mount Van Hoevenberg, or the all-natural run at St. Moritz. Just as lack of snow impacts events such as Alpine and Nordic skiing, natural tracks  are more susceptible to changing weather and climate, meaning competitions on natural tracks are more at risk. Headlines from sports events with no snow or ice frame the bobsled display. 

To further the exhibit’s educational goals, free lesson plans are available on the museum website, including plans specific to climate change. Along with virtual field trips, these plans give wider, affordable access to the museum’s programming.

The exhibit itself was designed to be accessible for a range of learning styles and needs, with captions on all video, large visuals, and sensory-friendly support. Bastian noted that the ticket desk keeps noise-canceling headphones on hand for visitors who want to enjoy the museum’s exhibits with less audio stimulation. 

A short film, directed by Paul Frederick, introduces two young local athletes, River Gray and Zarela Gulli, who share their thoughts on winter’s impact on Lake Placid’s culture and identity. Gulli, a Nordic skier and  ice climber, notes that a changing climate means that opportunities  to climb in the Adirondacks are dwindling, and that any climb could be the last time she gets to enjoy a particular pitch. The Adirondack ecosystems change every year, reshaping how people enjoy and interact with nature and utilize it; the exhibit is a reminder of how much that is in jeopardy. 

Gray notes in the film that competing on artificial snow is much different from competing on natural snow, which impacts competitions. A hands-on display about snow and biomimicry—the ways humans can copy and adapt natural systems and features, like the gripping claws of a bear—gives visitors the chance to view natural and artificial snow under a microscope to see how even the shape of the snow is different.

Within  the section on climate change and what can be done about it is a striking reminder of collective action. Visitors can use an interactive touchscreen display to “build” their own snowflake, selecting the shapes of the snowflake’s branches. When complete, the snowflake swirls into a  blizzard of other snowflakes, reminding visitors that, as Bastian put it, “we can all come together for greater change.” 

The message is clear: winter can be approximated, but never truly replaced.