About ORDA

The New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) was originally created by the State of New York to manage the facilities used during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid. ORDA operates Whiteface Mountain ski area located in the Town of Wilmington, just 15 minutes outside the Village of Lake Placid; the Olympic Center; the Olympic Jumping Complex and Olympic Sports Complex; and Gore Mountain ski area located in North Creek, New York -- 80 miles south of Lake Placid. As host to international and national championships, the Authority has brought millions of athletes and spectators to the Adirondack Region. ORDA has seen unparalleled assistance and support of its operation from both Albany and the State of New York.

In recent years, New York has provided ORDA with over $70 million for venue upgrades. The organization used these funds such as the installation of the high-speed gondolas at both Whiteface and Gore ski areas, a high-speed detachable quad chair-lift at Whiteface, the combined bobsled/skeleton/track at Mt. Van Hoevenberg in 2000 and the state-of-the-art Conference Center at Lake Placid in 2011.

New York State, the Department of Economic Development and our local elected officials have developed an alliance, allowing ORDA, Lake Placid and surrounding regions to remain at the forefront of winter and summer sports training, competition, and tourism by investing in the modernization of these facilities. This not only enables Lake Placid to maintain its Olympic heritage and standing among the national and international sporting communities, but allows us to become a strong partner with local and regional businesses in supporting and building the tourism industry in the North Country of Upstate New York.

To find out more about New York and to do business with its many agencies, log on to www.ny.gov.
For general tourism information on locations in New York state, log on to www.iloveny.com.

Board of Directors

The ORDA Board of Directors is chaired by Patrick Barrett. Ted Blazer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of ORDA.

Patrick Barrett, Chairman
Serge Lussi, Vice Chairman
Joe Martens, Commissioner Department of Environmental Conservation
Commissioner New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation
Empire State Development Corporation
Cliff Donaldson, Jr.
Robert Flacke
Jerry Strack
Edwin Weibrecht

Our Venue Mission

Established by the New York State legislature (Article 8, Title 28, NYS Public Authorities Law) on July 3, 1981, ORDA was given the mandate to manage and promote the sports facilities used to host the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. State and local government cooperatively created a long term solution to protect the public's investment in the Lake Placid Olympic facilities through the establishment of ORDA. In 1984 Gore Mountain joined the ORDA ranks. New York State had contributed $44 million to the construction and operation of the 1980 Olympic facilities while the Federal Government and the organizing committee provided an additional $150 million investment. ORDA's legislative mandate is to:

Institute a comprehensive, coordinated program of activities utilizing the Olympic facilities and Gore Mountain in and around Lake Placid, and North Creek, New York, in order to insure optimum year-round use and enjoyment of these facilities to the economic and social benefit of the Olympic Region and to minimize the financial burden on state and local government by maximizing revenue opportunities.
Improve the physical fitness and recreational education of the people of New York and the United States.
Develop, implement and supervise a comprehensive, coordinated program for the management, promotion and scheduling of a wide range of national and international athletic training and competitive opportunities that maximize the utilization of the Olympic facilities.
Develop, construct, operate, manage and maintain facilities for the training and housing of amateur athletes in connection with the United States Olympic Committee's training center program and ORDA's conduct of national and international sports events.

NYS Olympic Regional Development Authority
Olympic Center
2634 Main St.
Lake Placid, NY 12946
Tel: 518-523-1655 / Fax: 518-523-9275
Olympic Center Box Office: 518-523-3330
e-mail: info@orda.org