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A flareup of tempers highlighted the Pabst-Lions toboggan race preparations this week in both Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.

Saranac Lake Mayor Howard Riley, who holds the 1967 crown, claims that Lake Placid Mayor Robert Peacock’s team has been practicing nights and on days when the toboggan run is closed to the public.

Mayor Peacock denied the report and said the Enterprise photo is fixed or represents somebody else.

The Saranac Lake team has a severe handicap this year, according to Mayor Riley, who offered news media the information that U.S. Olympic bobsled coach Jim Lamy had lost 45 pounds in France and was also suffering from some kind of a disease traced to rich food … Crepes Suzette and Oysters Fontainebleau.

The third member of the team, Bill McLaughlin of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, is in poor shape also but will slide with the team regardless.

An expected field of toboggan beginners in both two- and three-man events on Feb. 29 should exceed 300, according to Lions executive Gerry Cassidy, who says the 200 figure of last year will be smashed.

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Where to ski

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Whiteface Mountain in nearby Wilmington is the king of the Adirondack ski centers. It has a vertical drop of 3,000 feet and is served by four chairlifts, a T-bar and a J-bar for 20 trails.

Big Tupper in Tupper Lake has a double chairlift, a T-bar and a newly installed Mighty Mite lift to serve beginners. There are 11 trails, and night skiing is featured.

Paleface Ski Center is located in the town of Jay on Route 86. It is served by a double chairlift and a T-bar on the upper mountain with more than a dozen trails.

The Fawn Ridge Sports Center is located on the outskirts of Lake Placid village. The 1,200-foot Poma lift serves two well-groomed slopes. There is also a fenced-in slope for toboggans and sleds.

Mount Pisgah is located outside the village of Saranac Lake off the Trudeau Road. The area is served by a 1,500-foot T-bar and a rope tow. The vertical drop is 300 feet. Night skiing is featured.

The Lake Placid Ski Center, formerly known as Scotts Cobble, is located on Route 73, 3 miles outside the village of Lake Placid. A 1,400-foot Poma lift with two levels serves the hill.

Mirror Lake Inn on the shore of Mirror Lake is the only hotel in the area with its own ski slope on the premises. Dream Hill, as the open slope is known, is primarily for the use of guests and is served by a rope tow.

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Luge support

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The National and Diamond Trophy Luge Championships is attracting a long list of United States and Canadian advocates of the new, fast-growing sport.

The shorter than regulation run in Lake Placid is the only one in operation in the U.S. It has been built down the side of a mountain adjacent to the 70-meter Olympic jumping hill on Route 73 a mile from the center of the village of Lake Placid.

The U.S. and Canadian national teams will practice Friday and race both morning and afternoon on Saturday and Sunday.

Steve Hendrickson of Eugene, Oregon, on leave from the Army, has been using the run every day for a month. He was injured in training in Quebec and did not go to Grenoble with the rest of the team. He should do well in the racing.

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Festival packs arena

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Patty Paulson and Frank Gifford were crowned the queen and king of the 14th annual North American Festival Saturday by Archbishop Mayor Jen-Guy Chartier in the Olympic arena ceremony. The royal couple rode into the arena in a sleigh drawn by six lovelies of the Ann Arbor Rockettes to greet their admiring subjects in the standing-room-only arena.

King Frank thanked the village for its hospitality on his first but “not his last visit here.” He also said, “I took my first bobsled ride today … and my last.”

Queen Patty out-glistened the brilliance of her crown in relating, “a beautiful day spent in Lake Placid.”

Following the coronation, the royal court and their enthusiastic subjects sat back to enjoy the ice show presented by the Skating Club of Lake Placid.

EXPLORE the Lake Placid News archives for yourself. Beware, though, you can easily fall into a rabbit hole while rummaging through this history. Have fun!