Mountain bike World Cup events have been capturing audiences since 1989. Located across the globe, those events united last year into one signature sequence of races, and the WHOOP International Cycling Union (UCI) Mountain Bike World Series was born. It all came together thanks to a ground-breaking partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) and the UCI.

This series has the best riders in the world traveling to 16 different countries with each international event featuring a selection of the sport’s six disciplines of racing.

Also last year, WBD selected Mt Van Hoevenberg as the only U.S. location to host this global World Cup mountain bike competition, and this coming September 27 – 29, the top riders on Earth will arrive to compete in three disciplines – cross-country Olympic, cross-country short track, and cross-country marathon World Cup races. Many of these athletes will be coming fresh from the Olympics in Paris.

Of all the possible locations on Planet Earth, how was Lake Placid singled out to host this prestigious event with a global audience?

Though the answer to that question goes back to 2018 and the planning around the venue revitalization projects, the story comes with a surprising plot twist. A moment during which a tiny spark illuminated the incredible potential in Mt Van Hoevenberg. It was that little spark that kicked off a rigorous evaluation process culminating in the WBD choosing both Mt Van Hoevenberg as the location and the Olympic Authority as the Local Organizing Committee.

An Expansive Vision Sets the Stage

In 2018, with the yet unseen plot twist still several years away, the Olympic Authority was beginning serious planning to revitalize Lake Placid’s Olympic venues and lift them to modern international standards. At Mt Van Hoevenberg, the goal was to create a world-class combined site for cross-country and biathlon as well as the sliding sports of bobsled, skeleton, and luge. The challenge also included not only enhancing existing recreation alternatives but also realizing opportunities for year-round sport and recreation that would greatly boost the venue’s usefulness and value. This goal would ultimately lead to Mt Van Hoevenberg serving as a model worldwide for sustainable multi-season recreation and tourism at an Olympic venue.

Snowmaking, trail work, a biathlon range, and a much larger and more centrally situated lodge quickly became some of the more immediately apparent parts of the revitalization effort needed to meet those goals. The installation of other important attractions, such as the 81-18 Café, the climbing wall, and the Cliffside Coaster, went a long way to realizing the greater vision.

The Olympic Authority planning team brought a high level of experience and expertise to the table that made all the difference in setting the stage for that previously mentioned plot twist. With knowledge and foresight, they planned for a wide range of needs, many less obvious ones, some of which turned out to be big difference makers.

The Difference Maker

Among the abundance of improvements was one addition that served as the source of that spark, creating the plot twist in the “how did they do it” story. This key addition was a broadcast infrastructure. A sophisticated technology network across the trails and throughout the lodge that allows TV crews to easily set up cameras and beam race images to viewers around the world.

Says Program Manager Kris Cheney Seymour, “We built an infrastructure that made Mt Van Hoevenberg very much a plug and play venue for timing and scoring and for broadcasting. Across the trail network are media pedestals and connection points with a dedicated power and fiber network, so when production and timing crews come in, they don’t have to lay miles of cables. It’s all ready. They just plug and play.”

Without this level forethought and planning, the set up for broadcast teams would be long and troublesome. Instead, as Kris says, “The pedestals are linked to a dedicated server and then to a broadcast compound, so everything is easy. It’s a big differentiator.”

It is so because modern endurance events in sports, such as cross country skiing, biathlon, trail running, and mountain biking all require nearly full coverage of racecourses with cameras. Places along a racecourse where action can’t be seen by cameras are problematic for broadcasters. As Kris notes, “The other part is being able to send those feeds live to different markets around the world. This technology support is seen very favorably by not only the broadcasters but also the international governing bodies of various sports.”

Then Along Comes the Spark

With the technology installed at Mt Van Hoevenberg, the stage was set for the spark and the plot twist. It came on the first day of cross country and Nordic combined events at the 2023 FISU Word Winter University Games. A Warner Bros. Discovery executive was in a mobile broadcast trailer working with the system at Mt Van Hoevenberg. Coincidentally, he also happened to be part of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series team looking for new sites.

Seeing firsthand the natural beauty of the Mt Van Hoevenberg venue and having firsthand experience with the broadcast technology system, the spark ignited.

“He saw a number of things,” says Kris. “We have the location, the facilities, and the technology, plus trained professionals capable of working as a Local Organizing Committee to pull off a high level event. Importantly, we also have a local event-friendly community that embraces not only the event but the culture and lifestyle of endurance sports. The fact we are already doing World Cup events was also very attractive to the decision makers.”

During a later onsite visit, the WBD Sports team confirmed the technical aspects and looked at the ski trails. “We did a light hike up the trails where they saw the forest, and shortly after, we began conversations that led to a three-year contract for hosting World Cup mountain biking at Mt Van Hoevenberg,” recalls Kris.

The Powerful Circumstances that Preceded the Spark

That all sounds so easy, but the reality is it was years in the making. A great deal of hard work and expert planning, design, and permitting – and eventual construction – preceded that spark and the subsequent WBD Sports visit. Ultimately, it comes down to the fact the Olympic Authority team at Mt Van Hoevenberg has the passion, the expertise, and the dedication required to make it all happen.

Notes Kris, “We had big goals to achieve with the variety of sports, and they were our priorities. But, other planning considerations included how we can use this infrastructure year-round, how we can better serve the general public, how we can better serve youth sport development, and how we can add other activities and recreation or sports that aren’t necessarily winter based to serve an even larger population.”

The new Mountain Pass Lodge played a key role in supporting the UCI and WBD decision to bring World Cup mountain biking to Lake Placid. A key goal in its design was that each space should serve multiple uses and user groups. The Olympic Authority team also applied that concept to trails and other facilities at Mt Van Hoevenberg, and today, that vision has become an impressive reality with people of all ages and abilities benefiting from a tremendous variety of adrenaline and adventure filled activities.

The Bold New Era is Here

A revitalized Mt Van Hoevenberg is already making an impact in many ways. Come September, that impact increases as athletes, coaches, and many thousands of spectators arrive in person for the first ever WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike Word Series. Thanks to the careful planning and foresight as well as the spark provided by our new broadcast networking technology, it will also include many tens of thousands of spectators all across the globe who will get their first views of Mt Van Hoevenberg as they watch the event from places all over the world.

For more than 100 years, we have been fortunate in the Olympic Region to have leaders who envisioned the potential around us and did the hard work of planning, organizing, and building. Their thoughtful leadership brought us two Winter Olympic Games, and it lifted our communities onto the world stage.

More recently, that work put us back on the world stage.

The achievements that lift us to that lofty level have always been and continue to be fundamental to all we have become.  As a result, our venues provide meaningful, lifelong experiences for the athletes, for the multitudes of visitors coming here for recreation and tourism, and for all of us living here. Thanks to this remarkable vision and dedication through the decades we maintain ready pathways to an abundance of outdoor adventures and to lifestyles others can only dream of.

So join the excitement at the WOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series and this next chance to show the world all the North Country has to offer. Get your tickets and find event details here online.