LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- On summer and early fall mornings, days of ice and snow are distant memories. It seems contrary to think of skiing, ice skating and hockey, let alone luge, while canoeing on a clear, blue mountain lake.

But visitors to Lake Placid in New York's Adirondack Mountains find a village that revels year-round in winter sports and its own unique Olympic heritage.

The Olympics return to North America by way of Vancouver, British Columbia, in February, but you can absorb some early Olympic excitement with a trip to this quaint mountain town.

One of Lake Placid's most noticeable aspects is the people in the streets: surprisingly youthful, definitely athletic and occasionally international. Teams in matching T-shirts dot the sidewalks, shopping and dining in the shops and restaurants. During the week we visited earlier this summer, 117 teams competed in the Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Classic.

Add to this the equestrian show-jumping championships and the Ironman Lake Placid Triathlon that also took over the streets and the lakes this summer. This is a town built for and about athletes with a history grounded in the Winter Games.

The Olympic Center in the heart of the village houses four operating ice rinks. "The Miracle on Ice," the 1980 victory of the U.S. hockey team over the Russians, took place in this venue, and in 2005, the arena where the game was played was renamed the Herb Brooks Arena, after the late legendary coach of the American team. Also at the '80 Games, Eric Heiden won his five gold medals at the speed-skating oval. Many American athletes come here to train and perfect their skills year-round.

Ice dancing shows are a popular event at the Center, and the young -- very young -- athletes were distinctive with their performance makeup and hairstyles and dancers' posture. Placid recently hosted the 2009 Lake Placid Ice Dancing Championships, which ran Aug. 4-8.

The 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Museum at the Center offers a historic overview of the Lake Placid Olympics with memorabilia such as the Fram III bobsled from the '32 Games, which had been missing for more than 60 years prior to being donated to the museum. You can view film footage from historic races and competitions.

There also is memorabilia from the "Miracle on Ice" hockey team, including video highlights, uniforms and equipment. Sonja Henne skated into Olympics history here in 1932.

The Mackenzie-Intervale Ski Jumping Complex is 10 minutes outside town. The 90- and 120-meter ski jumps tower over the landscape and the nearby homestead and burial site of abolitionist John Brown. From this location deep in the mountains, Brown shuttled escaped slaves over harrowing mountain roads to the Canadian border and freedom.

The ski jumps are a year-round training center for nordic jumping competitions. Just steps away is the Freestyle Aerial Training Center. During the summer months, competitors practice flips and turns and complete their jumps at a 750,000-gallon pool.

At the Olympic Sports Complex at the Mount Van Hoevenberg Recreation Area just west of Lake Placid, you can watch athletes race down the bobsled/luge track. Or try it yourself -- with the help of a professional driver and a brakeman. Bobsleds rocket down the half-mile course on wheels during the summer.

Whiteface Mountain in nearby Wilmington was the site of the alpine ski events during the 1980 Olympics. The Cloudsplitter Gondola ushers passengers to the top of Little Whiteface Mountain. This may be the only way passengers (like me) ever get to the black diamond (difficult) ski slopes carved into the face of this Adirondack peak.

Or drive the winding eight-mile Veterans Memorial Highway, which ends just 500 feet below the summit of Whiteface, the fifth highest Adirondack mountain. Visitors reach the top by means of a stone walkway or an elevator to an observation deck. On a clear day, you can see Lake Champlain and the Saint Lawrence River from the top.

Be sure to purchase an Olympic Passport: For $29, you get admission to the Olympic Jumping Complex, which includes an elevator ride to the sky deck on top of the jump tower, the Olympic Sports Complex, the Winter Olympic Museum, plus discount coupons to the bobsled ride.