Lake Placid – In the winter of 2018-2019, the Mirror Lake Inn Resort and Spa in Lake Placid successfully debuted Ski With Andrew, an exclusive opportunity for hotel guests to cruise the trails of nearby Whiteface Mountain with Andrew Weibrecht, Olympic silver and bronze medalist in Super G, and son of resort owners Ed and Lisa Weibrecht.
Andrew Weibrecht was inducted in 2019 into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum and is the current Operations Manager of the iconic Upstate New York Inn.
“Since I retired, it’s been great to be able to ski with our guests and their families,” said Andrew Weibrecht. “This season, we’ll do it again on Whiteface Mountain, which hosted the Olympic alpine events in 1980. I’m looking forward to showing our skiers the trails and all the history and legacy from those ski events in 1980.”
In addition, the Inn’s alpine skiing guests can take advantage of the only hotel ski shop in the Adirondacks. Andrew and brother Ethan, a former college racer and World Freeride Tour skier, operate the Mirror Lake Inn Ski Shop. They carry top-of-the-line equipment from Head and Blizzard/Tecnica. By sending in their specs and making reservations in advance, Andrew and Ethan will put a world class preparation on the skis and have them waiting for guests at the front desk on their way to Whiteface Mountain.
Now there’s more, however, with a comparable Nordic skiing component. After the Ski With Andrew launch, the Inn has expanded its offering to cross-country skiers with its Ski With Andrea opportunity. Cross-country skiers will stride local trails with Andrea Henkel Burke, the owner of four Olympic medals in biathlon (two gold, one silver, one bronze) as well as eight World Championship titles. The sport of biathlon combines 22-calibre shooting with cross country skiing.
Please note: Ski With Andrew is an exclusive offer to guests of the Mirror Lake Inn. Ski With Andrea is available to skiers no matter where they stay.
A native of Germany, Henkel Burke is the wife of local athlete Tim Burke, in his own right a four-time U.S. Olympian in biathlon, five-time World Cup medalist and World Championship silver medal winner. Burke’s career grew from his training at the Lake Placid Olympic venues. The couple make their home in Lake Placid.
“I am very excited to meet with the cross-country ski fans from the Mirror Lake Inn,” said Henkel Burke. “Cross-country skiing is such a fun, healthy sport for all levels. Workouts can be as hard or as easy as wanted, skating or classic. I am also excited to meet guests, who have never been on skis before, as well as athletes who are looking for a technique session or a training partner for some good intervals.”
The Mirror Lake Inn is the only Lake Placid property offering athletes of such pedigree to its guests in two different disciplines of skiing.
“This is like skating with Scott Hamilton or playing tennis with the Williams sisters,” said Chris Jarvis, Mirror Lake Inn marketing manager. “We are fortunate to connect some of the ski world’s most successful Olympic athletes with our Mirror Lake Inn guests. Ride the Whiteface Mountain gondola and ski Excelsior with Andrew, or double-pole your way out of the cross-country stadium alongside Andrea. These are dreams elsewhere that we can turn into reality here.”
The respective skiing excursions do not include lift tickets or trail passes. For the best pricing, Whiteface Mountain skiers are encouraged to purchase online at www.whiteface.com.