You're mistaken.
During race week, almost ALL the local LP hotels have 5 night minimums.
At $300 / night, minimum.
We're not making this shit up.

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float , hammer , and jog

lol...umm...NO! ...and ...
.... No (again)


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Yes to the no. The only reason my hovering finger hasn't pressed return on the registration page is the cost of lodging. I did LP in '12.'13,'14. It's just tough to justify getting gouged year after year.

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Dale Stephanos (Formerly PappaD)

That explains why you stayed at the Red Roof Inn for Mooseman and Ermitage du Lac for Tremblant. I'm in the same boat, if the family is going my hotel cost is 2-3 times more per night.

Now that you mention it Dev, I'll bet the strong US dollar plays a role in the LP registration. For someone in Toronto IMLP is all of a sudden much more expensive even just to sing up vs. Tremblant. In the first few years after adding Tremblant the CAD was much stronger and may have lured Ontarioians to LP even though they could now (2012) drive to another IM in Tremblant.

Lots of us have tried hundreds of clicks a full year in advance with no luck. I actually thought I had one once. It was advertised as a house rental with something like $150 a night and no minimum stay. I left a message. I got a call back specifically stating that it was race week, which meant that the fee was now $350 with a 7 day minimum. That's the kind of crap that keeps me from going back. The locals have learned that they can gouge the tri community without consequence and have no moral qualms in doing so.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

OK - for all those 'in the know'. I contacted the CVB in Lake Placid. To prove you all wrong. And they sent me a spreadsheet with all hotels listed for 2015 IM race week . The totals with minimums are:

0 night min stay = 1 property
2 night min = 3 properties
3 night min= 4 properties
4 night min= 13 properties
5 night min= 7 properties

As you can see, not ALL hotels are requiring 5 night minimums. Actually, of 28 properties listed, a full 25% ARE requiring 5 nights. In some circles, 25% = all. In most circles, this isn't even most.

Straight from the horses mouth. Feel free to call them to verify. Once again, the exaggeration of America continues. Drama is more fun that the actual truth.

So you found a total of 28 out of a few of thousand possible locations still available 51 weeks away from the event= not a high percentage. Congrats on the exorbitantly small victory on the min stay front. Now, cross check their prices for race week versus the last week in June. Also, are they within 5-10 miles of transition? (<-- Honest question)

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Pretty well all of us love the race and the environment. And I think most of us are willing to overpay for one year, maybe two or three. After that it gets old when there are many other IM options where you don't need to overpay any more than a regular weekend when the have the Jazz festival, the fireworks festival, a mountain bike world cup or some other cultural thing going on in the IM town in question. That's really the crux of it. To me it is fundamental problem when I am paying more for the Northwoods Inn in LP than at the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong harbour with the water side view for the 20th floor. That's when you just shake your head and go, "I don't mind over paying a bit, but this is not value for my money". I think part of LP not selling out is a lot of Canadians who are waiting to decide if they do Muskoka or Tremblant next year vs LP. With the Canadian dollar now borderline 75 cents, a $350 LP location turns into a > $460....make that a 4 night minimum and after tax this is $2000 CDN. I got a 4 nights for a one bedroom suite with a kitchenette in Whistler for $1200 all taxes in. That's not cheap, but for the quality of what I will get 100m from the finish line in the middle of the village it is hard to turn that down. Entry fee is $705 CDN. You'll get similar options in Tremblant and I imagine the entry fee will be in that range too.

....and certainly for American racers, these Canadian races just got a lot cheaper.

Fair enough. Thanks for the discussion.

Nice solid research.

Yes they are. All hotels in town. And I was actually surprised at rates. Feel free to contact the CVB. The whole LP gouge thing is a bit overblown. If you know people in town, you can get a deal. BTW The list they gave me was from this year. All from June of 2015 looking forward to race week.

"Hannah, you've not even touched my knees. I seem to get very dirty knees"

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http://www.PatGriskusTri.com USAT Certified Race Director
2024 Races: USAT State of CT Age Group Championship/State of CT HS Champs/ CT Club Championship - Sat June 15th (Oly/Du/Sprint) Hopkins Vineyard Tri at Lake Waramaug Saturday July 13th http://www.HopkinsVineyardTri.com

I'm sure all 2500+ folks racing at LP every year know people in town, too.

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float , hammer , and jog

Well that is because you got a goat...and nobody wants a goat.

I had a wonderful week in Lake Placid. We rented a house and it was expensive but very nice. I prefer to stay in a house for Ironman races.

I know that every race says that the city comes out to support the race but I've never seen such support (on the bike course especially) like this little village for the Ironman race. Well nothing tops the NYC marathon but this is really great.

After the race I did the Olympic touristy stuff with my kids. I repeatedly had locals thank me for doing the race which was nice. I was dutifully wearing my hat so they knew.

For me the issue is actually how long it takes to travel to Lake Placid. If I was closer I might do this race every year.

As far as not selling out it's a change I'm glad to see. Being forced to pick a race over a year out and the stress of being ready to register at 12:01 is something I can do without.