Experiencing The Winter Olympics For Yourself

I love the Olympics. Love them. Winter, summer; it doesn't matter. I will watch any sport so long as a gold medal is on the line. Admittedly, I'm a bit weirded out by brother/sister ice dancing pairs, but it takes all types, right? Now that the 21st Winter Olympics are in the rear view mirror, the sports that have captivated us for the last two weeks will likely slide back into obscurity for the next four years. But they don't have to. We might not live in Vancouver or even in Minnesota, but I don't think there's any doubt that we've got plenty of winter in Central Pennsylvania.

With that in mind, I decided to hunt down the places closest to Harrisburg that you can participate in each of the sports in the Winter Olympics. Not all of them are close, most of them aren't cheap and the barrier to entry is quite high in many cases. Still, if something in the olympics particularly caught your fancy, here's where you need to go. I can't promise I've gotten the closest possible location in all cases, but I gave it a shot:

Alpine Skiing: No mysteries here. There are plenty of ski slopes in Central Pennsylvania where you can hone your skills.
Ski Roundtop, Lewisberry, PA
Ski Liberty, Carroll Valley, PA
Ski Whitetail, Mercersburg, PA
Blue Mountain Ski Resort, Palmerton, PA

Biathlon: This is a tough one. There are summer biathlons in this area, but not much in the way of winter ones. The PA Biathlon club operates out of the Whitetail Preserve in Bloomsburg.
Pennsylvania Biathlon Club, Bloomsburg, PA

Bobsled: Believe it or not, you can experience the feeling of riding an olympic bobsled for only $75. That seems very, very fair. Of course you have to drive to Lake Placid to do it.
Whiteface Mountain, Lake Placid, NY

Cross Country Skiing: Depending upon conditions, you can cross country ski on most patches of public land. There is also a dedicated facility not that far away, and the the Pennsylvania State Parks listed below offer some great trails.
Crystal Lake Ski Center, Hughesville, PA
Boyd Big Tree Conservation Area, Newport, PA
Little Buffalo State Park, Newport, PA
Codorus State Park, Hanover, PA
Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Gardners, PA

Curling: You can try out the breakout sport of the Vancouver Olympics if you’re willing to jump in the car. You don’t have to leave the state! With a little bit of practice, you could be the next John Shuster. Wait…
The Scranton Curling Club, Wilkes-Barre, PA
The Philadelphia Curling Club, Philadelphia, PA

Figure Skating: There are a number of local rinks that offer learn-to-skate and figure skating classes.
Twin Ponds East & West, Harrisburg & Mechanicsburg, PA
Lancaster Ice Rink, Lancaster, PA
York City Ice Arena, York, PA

Free Style Skiing: This is all a matter of degrees. Freestyle Skiing includes moguls, aerials and ski cross and you can participate in many of these activities at ski slopes around the region. Camel Back in North Eastern PA holds regular ski cross events and each of the slopes listed below features a terrain park. Is it going to look just like the ones in Vancouver? No, probably not.
Camel Back Mountain, Stroudsburg, PA
Ski Roundtop, Lewisberry, PA
Ski Liberty, Carroll Valley, PA
Ski Whitetail, Mercersburg, PA
Blue Mountain Ski Resort, Palmerton, PA

Ice Hockey: No surprises here. All of the rinks in the region have leagues, pick-up games and learn to play classes.
Twin Ponds East & West, Harrisburg & Mechanicsburg, PA
Lancaster Ice Rink, Lancaster, PA
York City Ice Arena, York, PA

Luge: Whiteface does not give the public a chance to experience the luge, but that doesn’t mean the sport is out of your grasp. With membership to the Adirondak Luge Club, you will receive the coaching and track access at Lake Placid necessary to get into the sport. It is also remarkably affordable if you don’t consider the gas necessary to drive to New Hampshire and they actually offer single-session “Try Luge” packages that will cost less than $100 total.
Adirondak Luge Club, Brookline, NH

Ski Jumping/Nordic Combined: When it comes to Ski Jumping — and by extension Nordic Combined — the barrier to entry is quite high, but don’t let that discourage you. Believe it or not, there’s a place within driving distance where you can get the coaching you need to get into the sport. Well, that depends on what you consider driving distance:
Salisbury Winter Sports Association, Salisbury, CT

Short Track Speed Skating: The madcap world of short track speed skating is one that has the world on the edge of its collective seat once every four years and Koreans on the edge of theirs year round. The barrier to entry is low and the thrills are non-stop.
Lightning Force Speedskating, Mechanicsburg, PA
East Penn Speedskating, White Hall, PA

Skeleton: I can’t decide if Skeleton is more or less crazy than Luge. Yes, you can see where you’re going, but… you’re going face first. Whiteface offers the Skeleton experience for $60.
Whiteface Mountain, Lake Placid, NY

Snowboarding: No surprises here. Anywhere you can ski, you can snowboard. Most of the mountains in the area have pipes, but a word of warning; these are not going to be as big or look as nice as the pipe you saw Shaun White shredding in Vancouver.
Camel Back Mountain, Stroudsburg, PA
Ski Roundtop, Lewisberry, PA
Ski Liberty, Carroll Valley, PA
Ski Whitetail, Mercersburg, PA
Blue Mountain Ski Resort, Palmerton, PA

Long Track Speed Skating: While general ice skating facilities are fairly easy to come by, long track ovals are an entirely different story. While short track can be run on a hockey rink, long track requires an ice surface about the size of an Olympic running track. Not so easy to roof in. Until 1988, the event was actually conducted outside, and the closest legitimate track I could find was the outdoor track at , you guessed it, Lake Placid.
Whiteface Mountain, Lake Placid, NY