The third edition of the Rollins Roll was one for the books, with brand new pavement, sunny skies, a 50% increase in participation — all while being co-hosted along with the longstanding Kearsarge Hill Climb bike race. The event was dreampt up several years ago by Kearsarge Nordic coach, Kevin Lee, and fits in perfectly with NENSA’s vision of creating programming across the New England region. On Sunday, 44 athletes strode up Mt. Kearsarge with enthusiastic cheering from parents, teammates and coaches from five different states. The event highlighted the strength of the New Hampshire community with over 30 skiers coming from the Granite State.
The New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation maintains this beautiful road up Mt. Kearsarge and the staff at Rollins loves cross country skiers. The roadway was completely redone this spring, and as reported by NENSA Board President, Ellen Chandler, “Rollerskiers love black powder!” The climb is just over five kilometers long with an 8.7% average grade and 1,738′ rise — a perfect landscape to challenge your lungs while enjoying a beautiful forrest. On Saturday afternoon race organizers saw an eagle soaring near the summit, and early Sunday morning a moose was spotted running up the road. If you’re ever near Warner, stop by and check out this beautiful place!
While many of the skiers traveled to Mt. Kearsarge to test their own stamina and dream of winter, several skiers were out to claim victory. The top-eight ranked male and female skiers utilized NENSA’s matched fleet of Swenor rollerskis, creating an even playing for the fastest competitors. Luke Rizio, from Prospect Mountain Ski Club, was one of a growing number of Vermonters who made the trek east for the event. Rizio was the final starter and nearly overtook the whole field on his way to shattering the course record by over two and a half minutes. On the women’s side, it was Lea Perreard of Ford Sayre who set the bar and upstaged teammate Annelies Hanna on her way to victory.
Eleven masters skiers were in the field, including Kathy Maddock of DublinXC, who flew up the hill with awesome cadence — a pace that placed her third for all women. On the men’s side Peter Alden of Ford Sayre skied the climb with alacrity, finishing the course in just over thirty minutes — good enough for a top-10 finish overall! Many of the masters skiers are return Rollins participants, enjoying trying to best their own previous efforts and feeling the motivation of racing along side skiers of all ages.
The top-3 overall, junior and master skiers were recognized on the podium at the summit with a nice pairing of Cabot Cheese, boot covers, hats, and hot sauce from NENSA’s newest silver level sponsor Alpina Sports. Look for Alpina prizes and raffles (as well as a 35% product discount for NENSA members) at our next events.
Congratulations to all the competitors and a huge thank you to the volunteers who helped make this event possible. We are particularly grateful to our NENSA board secretary Chris Naimie for timing the event for the third year in a row, and our NENSA associate sponsors – Salomon, LL Bean, Swix, and Fischer, who help make events like this possible.
The Rollins Roll was the third race of the 2023 rollerski race series. In just over a month we will travel to Lake Placid for a full weekend of events in Lake Placid, NY featuring the exciting Keys to the Castle Freestyle Sprint on September 23rd and historic Climb to the Castle hill climb on September 24th. Registration for those events will open September 1st. Slide over to NENSA’s Rollerski Hub to get more information on all of our upcoming events!
Article in New Hampshire Union Leader
Complete Results
Photo Gallery
Overall Women
1) Lea Perreard – Ford Sayre – 31:04.6
2) Annelies Hanna – Ford Sayre – 31:16.7
3) Kathy Maddock – Dublin XC – 33:57.4
Overall Men
1) Luke Rizio – Prospect Mountain Ski Club – 24:47.1
2) David Northcott – Caldwell Sport/ Putney Ski Club – 26:08.2
3) Oliver Wilson – Dublin XC – 26:21.1
Junior Women
1) Sarah Glueck – Ford Sayre – 34:07.5
2) Anika Laroche – Holderness – 36:50.7
3) Summer Bentley – Dublin XC – 37:09.7
Junior Men
1) Caleb Zuckerman – Ford Sayre – 26:43.4
2) Gabriel Lloyd – Dublin XC – 27:33.5
3) Ben Frithsen – Charlestown Primary School – 29:21.0
Masters Women
1) Kathy Maddock – Dublin XC – 33:57.4
2) Rosalie Wilson – Ford Sayre – 36:07.7
3) Ellen Chandler – JacksonXC – 54:43.6
Masters Men
1) Peter Alden – Ford Sayre – 30:09.2
2) Robert Knapp – EMXC – 36:56.4
3) Stuart Kremzner – Blackwater Nordic – 37:06.0
Senior Women
1) Erin Waters – Concord High School – 41:35.8
Senior Men
1) Andy Rightmire – Ford Sayre – 26:24.9
2) Evan Kendall – Dublin XC – 27:22.0