The New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF), the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA), the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) and High Peaks Cyclery (HPC) invite athletes, friends, family and fans to a Rollerski race weekend in Lake Placid, NY.  

This is the second event of the NENSA / HPC Rollerski Series, following the sensational App Gap Challenge at Mad River Glen on August 3rd. We are expecting a great turn-out of athletes from across the region, including the U.S. Biathlon Team for this mini tour.

On Saturday, September 14th the 2nd annual Lake Placid Doubleday will consist of a 3 kilometer prologue with an interval start, followed by a 1.5 kilometer cross-country ski cross (XCX) preliminary sprint. The Doubleday will begin at 9:00AM with an Athlete Safety Meeting and the Course-Opening for Inspection. 

Results from the Doubleday, will determine the starting order for day two of the event which is the legendary Climb to the Castle (C2C). 

NEW this year – High Peaks Cyclery will be hosting the C2C pre-registration / bib pickup from 6:00PM-8:00PM on Saturday night at their store in Lake Placid. Come get your bib early and socialize! Join us for smores, beverages and make new friends!

On Sunday, September 15th, the Climb to the Castle freestyle race will begin at 8:00AM. The course will start at the Whiteface toll booth, climbing for approximately 5 miles with an average 8% grade up the Memorial Highway to the summit of Whiteface Mountain – New York’s 5th highest peak with an elevation of 4,867 feet.

Registration is OPEN on SkiReg.

The Tenth Running of the Gap

The high point of the Appalachian Gap in Waitsfield, VT sits more than 1600’ vertical feet above the valley below. To get there, Vermont Route 17 snakes its way from the valley floor up past Mad River Glen Ski area before topping out at 2,375 feet above sea level. The road is steep, winding, and has the reputation of being one seriously impressive climb. On Saturday August 3, this uphill stretch of pavement was the proving ground for skiers from across North America who came to ski the App Gap Challenge.

The race is hosted by the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA), and is the first race of six in the NENSA High Peaks Cyclery Rollerski Series presented by Skitrax Magazine.

The idea of the App Gap Challenge is simple enough; an uphill rollerski skiathlon with competitors doing a skate leg before transitioning to classic skis for the final push to the summit. But if you were to look at the faces of the competitors making their way up the gap,  you would know that completing this race is no simple feat. 

By the start time at 9:30 the sun was beating down on the pavement and the day was beginning to feel hot. The touring division started the day off with a handful of skiers who took advantage of the lane closure and the rare opportunity to rollerksi the gap uninhibited by cars. They were followed by the open and junior men’s field who skied a 7.5k course, and then the open and junior women’s field who skied a 5k course. The final starters of the day were waves of elite men and women who started in waves of 10, all skiing a 7.5k course on sets of matched rollerskis provided by Swenor.

The competitor field has grown in size and strength every year. This year saw more than 180 skiers toe the line, with members of the US Ski Team, SMS T2, Craftsbury Green Racing Project, and junior and college skiers from across the United States.

For the second year in a row, the women’s course record fell; which truly shows the strength of the field and the increased popularity of the race. The women’s podium was made up of Katherine Ogden of Dartmouth College/SMS T2 in first place, followed by Sophie Caldwell of SMS T2/USST in second place, and Caitlin Patterson of Craftsbury Green Racing Project/USST in third place.

On the men’s side, the race was won by Simi Hamilton of SMS T2/USST. Ben Lustgarden of Craftsbury Green Racing Project took second place, followed by teammate Adam Martin also of Craftsbury Green Racing Project in third place.

Full results can be found at Bart Timing . Photos courtesy of Reese Brown of SIA.

The men’s masters winner was Eli Enman, followed by Joel Bradley in second place and Reid Greenberg in third place.

The women’s masters podium was made up of Kathy Maddock in first place, followed by Alex Jospe in second place and Tristin Adie in third place. 

Continued story and pictures from our presenting media sponsor Skitrax Magazine.

The 2019 NENSA Club Challenge

Hello NENSA Members!

This summer, we have been working hard to help make this coming year a great one! We are proud to announce the unveiling of some new promotions that we hope will help highlight how great out community is. These range from highlighting some incredible work that our athletes are doing around the region to helping support our local clubs and teams.

NENSA has been a staple of the ski community in New England for decades, and we realize that a lot of people use our newsletters and social media posts to catch up on what is happening throughout the broader ski community. To help bring more light to the amazing things that clubs in our region are doing, as well as broader information from the national and international community, we are excited to unveil our News section of the website. It is our hope that through this we can bring light to the exceptional work that is being done. If your club has a blog that we weren’t able to find, send George an email at george@nensa.net with the information and he will make sure to incorporate it.

As part of highlighting the excellence of individuals in our community, Skier of the Week will highlight all sorts of amazing individuals who have done great things. These will be members of our Development and Elite Teams, as well some of the great skiers doing fantastic things for New England. Check out the website’s new News dropdown for more information from athletes and journalists to stay up to date with what is going on in the ski world. In addition to this new program, we are also going to be rolling out a whole new section for our website which will host regional and national news from the ski community. These areas will feature posts from our member club blogs, athlete blogs, and from professional news sites like FasterSkier, SkiTrax, among other ski news blogs.

In addition to all of these great new features we are hoping you take advantage of, we have a request to make. One of the things that defines the New England Ski Community, are our local clubs and schools. These groups are what make this community cohesive across such a broad swath of the region, and act as the first steps to introduce people to skiing. These clubs rely on wonderful people who love skiing to foster a love for the sport all throughout New England. Unfortunately, coaches move on, and when that happens it falls on the community to make sure that these great programs keep going. This is a great way to get involved with your local community, so give our Club Job Postings page a look! We are happy to promote the health of all of our local clubs, so please do consider reaching out if you have the time to help bring more people into the skiing community.