FORTNIGHT OF FEVER
Sagamore launches annual Glacier Ice Bar over weekend
BOLTON LANDING, N.Y. » The Sagamore Hotel in Bolton Landing officially launched its annual Glacier Ice Bar on Friday night, just in time for guests arriving from across the region and out of state to celebrate the twoweek long event. This is the fifth year the Sagamore is hosting the event, which has grown exponentially in popularity and has caused a ripple effect of other “Ice” events from Bolton Landing and down into Lake George Village, adding to the wintertime economy.
The 18,000-pound ice bar, the focal point of the event, is in the tented Shelving Rock Terrace located at the lower level of the hotel and measures approximately 20 feet in length. It will serve as the full-service bar for the entire two weeks the event is held, and it has features like the “luge” for funneling chilled vodka into glasses.
In addition to the bar, other ice sculptures are strategically placed throughout Shelving Rock Terrace, as well as outdoors, in the covered patio known as Dollar Island Terrace Bar. The sculptures on display evoke images familiar to Lake George visitors and residents, with this year’s sculptures including a largemouth bass, tall café-style tables for guests to rest their cocktails, and a frozen re-creation of the famous paddle steamboats that transport tourists around the lake on their daily tours. Standing guard at the Dollar Terrace Bar is a reproduction of the locally famous “Lake George Monster,” the area’s own version of the Loch Ness monster.
According to the Sagamore’s general manager, Tom Guay, the opening evening went off without a hitch and he was very satisfied with the attendance so far. “Any opening night is the time to get the kinks out,” said Guay, and he pointed out that the entire property is open for business, with bars located both indoors and outside, as well as the very popular Lakeview Bonfire where guests can make their own s’mores over a toasty firepit. The hotel expects to be booked for both weekends of the event.
Guay noted that the bar and sculptures are covered each night at 10 pm with “space” covers – silver puffy coverings designed to keep the ice cold and intact.
On Saturday following opening night, the property was bustling with activity, with valets busily greeting guests and parking cars and day visitors being shuttled to the main lobby from designated parking areas below the main gate to the property. Day visitors who opted not to park and walk or take the hotel shuttle could pay $10 for a daylong access to the property.
According to Guay and other people attending the event who are residents of Bolton and Lake
George, the annual Glacier Ice Bar has been great for the local economy, boosting visitors to the hotel, as well as to nearby venues. Last year, the village of Bolton Landing officially got in on the festivities with its own “Bolton on Ice” event. They are continuing that tradition in 2018, with restaurants offering specials and local retailers open for business with aggressive seasonal sales to entice buyers. One ice bar attendee remarked on how great the sales were at the shops in the village.
Other guests planned to make the rounds of the other events taking place, including Funky Ice at the Adirondack Brewery in Lake George Village, followed by dinner at Neptune’s. One group from Ravena Coeymans said that they stay at the Fort William Henry resort in Lake George Village, just one of several hotels in the area that benefit from the ice festivals.
Contrary to the name of the event, which indicates that it is a mostly alcoholrelated event, many people were at the Sagamore to enjoy winter activities like skiing, snow-shoeing, hiking and sledding. A group from Averill Park who were enjoying lunch in the indoor lobby bar and lounge, had just completed a morninglong hike at a nearby recreation area. Another group had just returned from a brisk outdoor run and were heading to the Sagamore’s spa for massages.
Other guests came from as far as Philadelphia. Many of Saturday’s attendees said they are longtime visitors to the region or owners of second homes and camps on the Lake, who come to enjoy the winter season on Lake George.
The event also attracted multiple generations. One woman from Schenectady, who has been coming to Lake George for 40 years and now owns a home in nearby Diamond Point, brought her mother to the Ice Bar for the first time. “I said that, when I move here, I’m coming to the Ice Bar,” said Gloria Lemansai, who recently relocated to the area from Long Island.
Another couple from Burnt Hills said that they are regular guests of the Sagamore, calling it their “anniversary destination.” Sharon Peterson of Saratoga Springs brought her daughter, Lisa Birkland Shohen of New Jersey to the visit the Ice Bar on their way to visit Peterson’s other daughter and her new grandson in nearby Glens Falls. This was Peterson’s third year attending the event and Shohen’s first. However, she said it would not be her last.
The Glacier Ice Bar will remain open through the weekend of January 27-28 and Bolton on Ice will also be in full swing.