LAKE PLACID — The Olympic Regional Development Authority added to its fleet of shuttle buses Saturday to deal with delays that caused some spectators to miss the international cross-country ski racing event in Lake Placid that featured Olympian Jessie Diggins.

The FIS Cross-Country World Cup event Friday through Sunday at Mount Van Hoevenberg has drawn thousands of ticketholders.

On Friday, guests waited for up to two hours a few miles from the event site as an inadequate number of shuttle buses were available for rides that should take about 10 minutes.

And some fans holding tickets, such as Andrew Swartz, just gave up.

A Wisconsin state health department employee, Swartz, 59, drove 17 hours from his home in Madison, Wisconsin, sleeping on a mattress in his van, came to Lake Placid for the races and to see the “rock star” Diggins race. He said he arrived 45 minutes before her race and saw at least a thousand people waiting for buses.

He waited until 2 p.m. and still there were hundreds of people waiting for a seat on a warm bus. Swartz said he was suffering from cold feet and chose not to wait any longer to use the first ticket of his three-day pass, which cost $120.

He said Nordic ski fans — he is an 18-time American Birkebeiner racer — are nice. Someone said to him that if they were football fans waiting for the Super Bowl there would have been a riot. People counted nine buses of various sizes assigned for the throng that needed a shuttle.

ORDA Chairman Joe Martens said he was contacted by several people concerned about the problem and that it was rectified with seven additional buses hired for Saturday shuttles.

“There was a crush,” he said. “We just didn’t have enough buses to carry them over there.”

Spectators who arrived around 11 a.m. missed the 1 p.m. start of Diggins’ race on Friday and waited in wintry weather at the Lake Placid Horse Show grounds for the school buses rented by ORDA. Diggins, the 34-year-old celebrated U.S. skier, is finishing her career this weekend in the first-ever World Cup cross-country skiing event held in Lake Placid. With her fifth-place finish on Friday, Diggins netted her fourth overall World Cup title.

The event sold well, Martens said — about 8,000 tickets purchased for each day and perhaps as many as 10,000 people trying to get to the mountain daily with athletes and support staff included.

“We have taken steps to improve operations, including increasing shuttle capacity and doubling the number of buses in service, and are continuing to make real-time adjustments. We are also sharing updates with guests through event communications and social media to support planning during peak periods. We remain committed to providing a positive and efficient transportation experience as the weekend continues,” said Darcy Norfolk Rowe, director of communications for ORDA.

ORDA board member Arthur Lussi, who runs the Lake Placid Club Grandview Hotel in Lake Placid, said hotels were booked and spillover went to Saranac Lake properties. The races are happening at the same weekend as the ECAC Men’s Hockey Tournament in Lake Placid.

The shuttle snafu was reminiscent of similar problems that happened during the 1980 Winter Olympics experienced by the organizers before the creation of the Olympic authority. That bus shortage resulted in fans being stranded and missing events.