It's true, we've had to apply our Adirondack ingenuity and creativity to enjoy outdoor recreational opportunities in reaction to the variety pack of weather that we've been experiencing.

In spite of the general lack of deep snow, the word of the week, in a positive sense seems to be "ice". For instance, it has been a stellar ice climbing season, and nordic ice skaters have been reporting terrific conditions. And, we're looking forward to a long-running ice-related event with great anticipation and optimism!

The 115th Saranac Lake Winter Carnival, which is coming up soon from February 3-12. Aurora Ramsay writes about this long standing tradition in her history blog this week.

And Sue Cameron writes about the process of building the ice castle in her "palaces and palates" blog this week too.

Our family fun blogger, Diane Chase actually chased some skiers on the iced-over Mirror Lake earlier this week in her discussion of the many activities available on that very action-packed frozen surface.

And I blogged about a spectacular day of hiking on the icy trails of the Adirondack Coast of Lake Champlain.

Read 'em and weep. They'll melt your heart.

Or - check these icy tales out before they get covered in snow!

-Kim Rielly is the director of communications for the Lake Placid CVB/Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism