ArcaMax

Wherever you stay in Lake Placid (www.lakeplacid.com) there are opportunities for a bobsled or skeleton experience down the Olympic track and the chance to see how you or your teen ranks as a biathlete (for the uninitiated, that's cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship). Kids must be 13. Skate on the same rink (just $5 for kids) where speed skater Eric Heiden set Olympic history by winning five gold medals in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. The gold medal hockey game between the U.S. men's hockey team and the Soviet Union, dubbed the "Miracle on Ice," was another 1980 highlight. The U.S., of course, won the gold! (A Winter Olympic Sites Passport can save you more than $40, http://www.whiteface.com/plan/olympic-sites-passport.)

Vancouver, Canada, (www.tourismvancouver.com) would love to lure you over the border where you can pose for next year's holiday card at the downtown Olympic cauldron, first lit for the opening ceremonies on Feb. 12, 2010.

I love cosmopolitan Vancouver for its beauty -- between mountains and ocean -- its museums (you've got to see the beluga whales at the Vancouver Aquarium, www.vanaqua.org) and the fabulous Pacific Rim cuisine. You can do all that and take a ride into Olympic history and glory. Watch a Vancouver Canucks (http://canucks.nhl.com/) hockey game at the Rogers Arena where the men's and women's gold medal matches were played. If you're on a tight budget, go see the Vancouver Giants (www.vancouvergiants.com) at the Pacific Coliseum where figure skaters competed.

Ski Cypress Mountain (www.cypressmountain.com). It is the official Olympic freestyle skiing and snowboarding venue. This is where Shaun White dazzled and won his gold medal. Make sure not to miss the runs that have been named for Canadian medalists, including Alexandre Bilodeau's gold black mogul run and Maelle Ricker's gold blue intermediate slope.

One thing's for sure, once the kids start watching the Olympics, they're going to beg you to get out and try some Olympic-style fun in the snow.

Ready to lead the way?

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For more places for fun in the snow, check out the Taking the Kids Guide to Fun in the Snow http://www.takingthekids.com/seasonal-travel-tips/fun-in-the-snow-your-guide-to-family-vacations-on-the-ski-ski-slopes-and-beyond/ and look for Eileen's new series of Kids City Guides -- the latest to LA and Chicago -- online and at major booksellers. For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.

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