Skip to main content
Be prepared with helpful travel tips!
  • See & Do
    • See & Do
    • See all
      • See all
      • Seasons
        • See all
        • Spring
        • Summer
        • Fall
        • Winter
      • Accessibility
      • Arts
      • Attractions
      • Downtown
      • Health & Wellness
      • History
      • Live Music
      • Parks
      • Shopping
      • Stories
      • Weddings
  • Outdoors
    • Outdoors
    • See all
      • See all
      • Hiking
        • See all
        • Nature Walks
      • ADK Guides & Tours
      • Birding
      • Boating
      • Camping
      • Cross-Country Skiing
      • Cycling
      • Downhill Skiing
      • Fishing
      • Golfing
      • Ice Fishing
      • Mountain Biking
      • Paddling
      • Snowmobiling
      • Snowshoeing
  • Eat & Drink
    • Eat & Drink
    • See all
    • Cafés & Coffee Shops
    • Craft Beer & Cocktails
    • Restaurants
  • Events
    • Events
    • See all
    • Adirondack Snowshoe Fest
    • ArtWorks ArtMarkets
    • Can-Am Rugby Tournament
    • Celebrate Paddling ADK
    • First Night Saranac Lake
    • Plein Air Festival
    • Winter Carnival
    • 3rd Thursday Art Walks
  • Stay
    • Stay
    • See all
    • Cabins & Cottages
    • Camping
    • Inns, Lodges, Bed & Breakfasts
    • Resorts, Hotels, Motels
    • Vacation Rentals
  • First Time Visitors
    • First Time Visitors
    • See all
      • See all
      • Accessibility
      • Downtown
      • Getting Here
      • Greater Region
      • Stories
      • Seasons
        • See all
        • Spring
        • Summer
        • Fall
        • Winter
  • Local
    • Local title-header
      • Live Here
        • See all
        • Meet the Locals
        • Real Estate
        • Town of Harrietstown
        • Town of North Elba
        • Town of St. Armand
        • Village of Saranac Lake
      • Do Business Here
        • See all
        • Chamber Job Board
        • Essex County IDA
        • Franklin County Economic Development Co.
        • Professional Services
        • Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce
      • Community Initiatives
        • See all
        • Arts & Culture Master Plan
        • Downtown Revitalization Initiative
        • Saranac Lake Brand
        • Village Community Development Department
What can we help you find?
  • See & Do
      1. See & Do
      2. See all
        1. See all
        2. Seasons
          • See all
          • Spring
          • Summer
          • Fall
          • Winter
        3. Accessibility
        4. Arts
        5. Attractions
        6. Downtown
        7. Health & Wellness
        8. History
        9. Live Music
        10. Parks
        11. Shopping
        12. Stories
        13. Weddings
  • Outdoors
      1. Outdoors
      2. See all
        1. See all
        2. Hiking
          • See all
          • Nature Walks
        3. ADK Guides & Tours
        4. Birding
        5. Boating
        6. Camping
        7. Cross-Country Skiing
        8. Cycling
        9. Downhill Skiing
        10. Fishing
        11. Golfing
        12. Ice Fishing
        13. Mountain Biking
        14. Paddling
        15. Snowmobiling
        16. Snowshoeing
  • Eat & Drink
      1. Eat & Drink
      2. See all
      3. Cafés & Coffee Shops
      4. Craft Beer & Cocktails
      5. Restaurants
  • Events
      1. Events
      2. See all
      3. Adirondack Snowshoe Fest
      4. ArtWorks ArtMarkets
      5. Can-Am Rugby Tournament
      6. Celebrate Paddling ADK
      7. First Night Saranac Lake
      8. Plein Air Festival
      9. Winter Carnival
      10. 3rd Thursday Art Walks
  • Stay
      1. Stay
      2. See all
      3. Cabins & Cottages
      4. Camping
      5. Inns, Lodges, Bed & Breakfasts
      6. Resorts, Hotels, Motels
      7. Vacation Rentals
  • First Time Visitors
      1. First Time Visitors
      2. See all
        1. See all
        2. Accessibility
        3. Downtown
        4. Getting Here
        5. Greater Region
        6. Stories
        7. Seasons
          • See all
          • Spring
          • Summer
          • Fall
          • Winter
  • Local
      1. Local
        1. Live Here
          • See all
          • Meet the Locals
          • Real Estate
          • Town of Harrietstown
          • Town of North Elba
          • Town of St. Armand
          • Village of Saranac Lake
        2. Do Business Here
          • See all
          • Chamber Job Board
          • Essex County IDA
          • Franklin County Economic Development Co.
          • Professional Services
          • Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce
        3. Community Initiatives
          • See all
          • Arts & Culture Master Plan
          • Downtown Revitalization Initiative
          • Saranac Lake Brand
          • Village Community Development Department

From the Adirondacks to the Olympics and Back

Watch Video
Be prepared with helpful travel tips!
Justin Levine
March 11, 2020

Andrea Kilbourne-Hill was born and raised in Saranac Lake, and is now doing the same with her own family. But between those bookends, Kilbourne-Hill has earned a degree from Princeton and a silver medal in Olympic women’s hockey. And while that may seem like a lot for a small-town kid, she is really just getting started.

Kilbourne-Hill is now back in her hometown, teaching fourth grade. She said her decision to come back to the Adirondacks was driven by not only her love of the place, but also by a curiosity of what it’s like to raise a family here.

“After college, I moved to Boston because I was still training with the National Team and that’s where a lot of our team was,” she said during a recent interview. “I knew I could get a lot of ice there and people to skate with. And then every time I would come home, I would drive through the Cascades (Cascade Pass, outside of Lake Placid) and be like, ‘Why am I going back to the city and to traffic?’

“I love Boston as a city, but I got to the point where I was like ‘Why am I doing this?’ Especially when I was done training - I knew that there wasn’t really anything keeping me there and that’s when I decided I was going to come back to the Adirondacks, come back home, and see if this was where I wanted to stay. Because I was training so much I never really got to live here as a young adult, and I wanted to try that so I decided to stay.”

Kilbourne-Hill graduated from Princeton after taking a year off to train for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, but said she faced both problems and had support as a young female athlete - especially growing up in the shadow of one of the most famous moments in sports history, the 1980 Miracle On Ice, when the US men’s hockey team defeated the Russians in Lake Placid. 

“I think when I was growing up, it was a different world,” she said. “I’m not that old, but even 20 years ago it was a different world for female athletes. I think one piece was, ‘Where do I go with this?’ So you had to really have that vision in your head on your own. Another obstacle was equity in general. I got dressed in the bathroom, my dad made a stool for me so that I could sit and tie my skates because I was the only girl on the boys team. They would get a locker room, but now you go to rinks and there’s a female locker room sometimes. It’s totally normal now but the equity wasn’t as important to have, to treat boys and girls equally when I was a kid.

“The other big thing was that growing up, I was kind of the anomaly that wanted to make it to the next level, which was tricky because my friends would be having sleepovers or going away for spring break, and I would be here staying home training,” Kilbourne-Hill continued. “So the culture of being an elite athlete as a girl wasn’t there. Girls wanted to compete in high school and they worked hard. If you look even at Saranac Lake High School you have a lot of girls that are really good Nordic skiers or trying to get to that next level (and) I didn’t have that so much.

“I was 14 I think when they announced that women’s hockey would be an Olympic sport, and I put Olympic rings on my mirror and that was the goal. It was nice that there was something to shoot for. I think growing up here where the Olympics aren’t something that just happens every four years was important. I mean, you drive through Lake Placid and it’s Olympics all the time.”

Kilbourne-Hill followed that Olympic lead all the way to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, where the US won the silver medal by obliterating Germany (10-0), China (12-1), and Finland (5-0) in the opening rounds. The team then went on to beat Sweden 4-0 in the semifinals before Canada topped the US in the gold medal game by a tight score of 3-2. But Kilbourne-Hill isn’t done with hockey, particularly in the North Country.

In 2017, Kilbourne-Hill was tapped to create - from scratch - a women’s hockey program at Paul Smith’s College, the only four-year college within the Adirondack Blue Line. The small school - which specializes in natural sciences, hospitality, and culinary arts - was looking for ways to increase the number of female students on campus, and Kilbourne-Hill’s hockey program was one part of that effort.

Kilbourne-Hill said female hockey players who aren’t recruited to top colleges often have nowhere to play after high school, and she hopes the Paul Smith’s team offers a place for local women to continue skating. The Paul Smith’s women’s team is now up and running, even earning a mention in a recent article in the Washington Post.

“They had a full season this year, which is great,” Kilbourne-Hill said. “The girls seem happy with it and I think it has added to the school culture, which is one of the things we were really hoping for. 

“I think for the athletes, it’s a nice spot. For anyone who’s a local or a North Country kid who’s been playing hockey their whole life and all of a sudden has nowhere to play because they’re not quite good enough to go play Division III, it’s a really nice fit because they still get to play hockey and study. For the women, it’s nice to be able to have that piece that they can still do. It’s part of your life, part of your identity. And for the school, it’s nice to have more programs that bring in strong females.”

--

Read more about other inspirational Adirondack women...

Inez Milholland: Forward out of Darkness

Cheri Cross: Crafted by hand, with love

Great Camps, greater women

Hiking with Grace Hudowalski

Nina Lussi: Taking flight

Amy Farrell: An ADK badass

Related Stories

What's New at the Saranac Lake Civic Center?
Local Spotlight: Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation
Faces of Music in Saranac Lake
The Taste of Community: Saranac Lake
Saranac Lake Local Spotlight: Meet John Dimon
Spring Revival
The Allure of Ice Fishing: A Woman's Perspective
IPW101: Building the Ice Palace
A Champion for Local History
Capturing the Little Things
Saranac Lake Local Spotlight: Meet Jason Smith
A Treasured Family
Three Options for Trail Running
Ampersand in Winter
Olympic Dreams in Saranac Lake
A Winter Hike Up Haystack
Spruce Up Your Holiday Decor
New Lodge, Classic Charm
Sunrise Paddling, Saranac Lake Style
From the Adirondacks to the Olympics and Back
Ice Fishing in Saranac Lake
Every Day is a Carnival
Dip into Winter on the Jackrabbit
Getting Back to Nature
Sweet Indulgences - Saranac Lake's Coffee Hotspots
'Tis the Season
Five Ideas for Winter Family Fun
Saranac Lake Adventure Travel
In Her Studio
Decidedly Different Saranac Lake
Finding Fun and Snowfleas at the VIC
A Day of Winter Indulgence
An Artist's Haven
Hardwater fishing, decidedly different!
Lodging to Fit Your Winter Travel Style
Cross-Country Ski The Jackrabbit Trail
Finding Winter Finches — and other Cold-Weather Species
Skiing from Placid to Saranac Lake
6 Must See Winter Carnival Events
Mt Pisgah: Local and Loved Ski Hill
First Day on the Bog
Saranac Lake's Snowshoe Centers
Snowshoeing at the VIC
A Quintessential Holiday Experience
Saranac Lake Winter Fashion
A century of playing in the snow
5 Paths to Winter Adventure in Saranac Lake
The Excitement of Early Spring Birding!
WINTER IS COOL
So Much Snow! And Some Great March Skiing!
Let's Glide - Enjoy Fish Creek Park!
A Beautiful Ski on the Jackrabbit Trail
Top 5 tips for fishing on Lake Colby
Family Ski at Dewey
Canoodlers and Lawn Chair Ladies
Top Reasons to Visit Saranac Lake This February
Woods and Waters Trail, a great ski!
A Holiday Ski!
First Skis of the Season!
Downtown Holiday Shopping Guide
Getting First Night Ready
Sprung!
Skiing and Exploring the Jackrabbit Trail
Big Snow!!!!!
A Great Ski on the Jackrabbit Trail!
Dewey Mountain - Just Wild Enough
Treat Your Valentine With An Unforgettable Experience
Get out and snowshoe!
Ice Fishing First-Timer
Winter Carnival Invention: Arctic Golf
Counting Birds in the Olympic Region
Finding Birds on the Saranac Lake Christmas Bird Count
2016 Most Popular Blogs
We can dash through the snow
Self-care in Saranac Lake
Get it together — First Night Saranac Lake
Make Holiday Memories at Moody Farm
Cross Country Skiing in Lake Clear
Early-Winter Skiing!
Enjoying Late Fall Cold Fronts And Their Migrants
A tree for the whole family
Great Fall Birding!
The thrill of snowmobiling
Wonderful Weddings in Cool Places
Springing!
Our Winter Waxwing
Cross-Country Skiing on the Bloomingdale Bog Trail
Yeah, we're cool - no matter what we're wearing!
Jones Hill and Blue Hill, a mighty duo
Gray Jays!
Snowshoeing: day to learn, lifetime of fun!
Fun with Ice: Saranac Lake Creativity
2015 Most Popular Blogs
First thing's first: An insider's guide to First Night Saranac Lake
Dewey Mountain Recreation Area: A Great Place to Enjoy Winter!
Winter Events You Won't Want To Miss
Trotting for Turkeys
Select seven: Family hikes under four hours
Dewey Mountain - satisfy that snow craving
Tubing: the sport to please the masses
Timeless Tubing at Mount Pisgah
Brighton: Dusk 'til Dawn
Coming Home to Saranac Lake
Learning to Love Every Season
In Defense of Mud Season
Skiing in April and on Easter - No Foolin'!
Boreal Birding In and Around Town
The Joy of Spring Skiing
Winter Birding with Signs of Spring
Adirondack Cure for Cabin Fever
Jackrabbit Trail: Lake Placid to Keene
Jackrabbit Trail - Day 2: McKenzie Pond to Lake Placid Pub & Brewery
Winter Birding: Saranac Lake and Paul Smiths
An evening snowboard session at Mt. Pisgah
Jackrabbit Trail: Paul Smiths to McKenzie Pond Road
Newbie Skier Tackles Titus
Memorable Firsts: Carnival & Cross-Country Skis
Friendly Snowshoe Up Baldface Mountain
Skiing the Fish Pond Trail
Two sides of the Trifecta
Wedding planning with the pros
Get ready to jam at Winter Carnival
Enjoying Winter Birding
A Winter Hike into the McKenzie Mountain Wilderness Area
Nordic Skiing - Five Great Places
A Century of Ice Palaces
Adirondack Traditions, then and now
Enjoying White Snow to Take Away the Winter Blues
An Evening Sleigh Ride in the Adirondacks
An Adirondack You for 2015
Race, jam, dance and more in January
A Winter's Hike up Baker Mountain
Four Seasons of High Points
Hiking & Tracking Wildlife on Scarface Mountain
Extreme Ice Fishing
Skiing - and Falling - in a Winter Wonderland
Early Season Cross-Country Ski Destinations
Fly our Adirondack skies
Searching for Boreal Birds
St. Regis Canoe Area - An Interesting Ski Tour
Where to find hot beverages
The First Ski of the Season!
A picture's worth a thousand words - epic winter events
A Guide to the Great Indoors
New fun at Titus Mountain Ski Area
The Horse Knows The Way
Mount Pisgah getting ready for winter ski season
VIC music sweetens a ski Sunday
Skiing Upper Saranac Lake Loops
Winter Foodie Scene
Paul Smith Visitors Interpretive Center
Night Skiing at Mt. Pisgah
Mid-Winter Events 2014
Winter Carnival means live music
Top Five Winter Break Activities
Best Ice Fishing Holes
Building the Ice Palace
Tubing Adventures at Mt. Pisgah
Skiing Before the Melt
Basics for Ice Fishing Gear
First Time Ice Fishing
Slip Sliding Away Winter Hiking
Silent Night
Lost and Found
Snowshoe Shopping
New Years Eve Saranac Lake NY
Short & scenic hikes
Mount Arab
Winter Family Events
First Ski of the Season!
Less than two weeks to Sparkle Village Craft Fair!
Debar Mountain and Black Peak
Ducks and Otters at Lake Colby
Saranac Lake Art Attraction Nov 22 - Dec 28, 2013
Muskrats!
Goodman Mountain
Ducks on the Pond
What can we help you find?
Sign up to receive more information.
Enter Email
Do•Stay•Eat•Shop•Events
Work Here•Contact Us•DEI•Media Kit•Privacy Policy
39 Main Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983
Powered by the Regional Office of
Sustainable Tourism
THERE’S MORE TO EXPLORE
We’ve got the best ideas for things to do on your next Adirondack adventure, and we will deliver them right to your inbox! THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING! Your next adventure awaits you in your inbox! Tell us more about what interests you, and we can help you plan your next trip.
MANAGE YOUR PREFERENCES