Rollerskiing

Well, in New England, it’s the winds that will pose an obstacle to racing – be they coming down from Canada, or up from Washington D.C.

Following the Federal Government Shutdown last week, the Vermont National Guard has announced that all activities at Camp Ethan Allen are suspended through at least the month of October.

That includes all civilian access to the rollerski loop. As a result, NENSA and Mansfield Nordic Club (MNC) have made the difficult decision to cancel the planned revival of rollerski racing on the track. The Mansfield Fall Carnival, to be held on Saturday, October 18th, is cancelled.

We apologize about any inconvenience posed by this decision, and thank everyone who was looking forward to gathering with the ski community for a Fall reunion around ski racing.

Come Join Us Sunday in Stowe – MNC Pro Uphill Run!

There’s still a great opportunity to join the ski community this weekend in Stowe!

The Mansfield Nordic Club Pro Team is holding its first annual uphill running race in Stowe on Sunday. Those looking for a challenge alongside the ski community can still enjoy Fall in Stowe, while providing crucial support to our community’s newest Pro project. To Register, head to the link below! Curious about MNC Pro? Read about it here!

Greylock Hill Climb on Sunday, November 2nd

There’s still one more rollerski race on the calendar, and it’ll take you to the top of the Berkshires! Registration is open for the Greylock hill climb on Sunday, November 2nd!

The first hint of Fall crispness in Lake Placid comes with something new.

The acute sense of the air in Lake Placid always leads back to thinking of winter. But thinking of it in a specific way. As a season full of potential. Consider that this little village strung high up in the Adirondacks has, against demographic, geographic, and temporal odds, not only mustered the Olympic spirit over the last century, but played host to it (twice!).

Yes, to sense winter in Lake Placid, is to sense that the Winter Olympics are on the horizon. And this weekend in Lake Placid, it meant that the Olympians who represent the best of its idealistic principles are close at hand too. Metaphor, become reality. Thanks for NYSEF and ORDA for doing the hard work of conversion there.

This past weekend in Lake Placid, over 100 skiers from across the East gathered to kick off this big, Olympic winter in a way befitting of the ski community. Competitive for sure, but laced with camaraderie and set in a beautiful place too. Present among them were Jessie Diggins, Julia Kern, Ben Ogden, Remi Drolet (thanks to SMS T2!), and the multi-generations of skiers now looking up to them. All were in Lake Placid to write the Preface for a ski season which will inevitably wind its way back to Lake Placid for the Epilogue next March when the Mt. Van Hovenberg hosts World Cup Finals on the very same loop.

A Fall weekend then, to mark something new. A new season, with fresh dreams to chase, in Lake Placid, around the world, and back again.

The event program paired the Keys to the Castle Court-style Sprint on Saturday with the historic Climb to the Castle race on Sunday. This marked the reprisal of a busy NENSA Rollerski Series for the Fall, with registration now open for next month’s Mansfield Fall Carnival and the Mt. Greylock Hill Climb in November.

Thank you to Nancie Battaglia for the photos featured throughout this recap! Her work is found here.

Keys to the Castle Sprint – Saturday

From Nordic Insights by Peter Minde – “ ‘This is so brutal,” gasped a skier in the finishing area after a tough men’s heat in Saturday’s Keys to the Castle rollerski sprint races at Mount van Hoevenberg. Van Ho’s sprint course is only 1300 meters long, but warming up, qualifying, and racing multiple heats will catch up with you.“

The Keys to the Castle Sprint returned to the Mt. Van Hovenberg rollerski loop. The “Court-style” Sprint is a perfect Fall race format. Everyone races a qualifier, and no one doesn’t race heats. Excuse the double-negative, but the idea is to create a clear positive. Every racer gets a full set of sprint day efforts. Qualifier, quarterfinal, semi-final, and final. For those that pride themselves on making the Finals on Sprint day, it’s a chance to practice the unique mix of strategic cognition and physical demand which sprinting requires. For those who are aspiring to make those Finals, it offers them a real-time feedback on what it’s like to get that far into a race.

Mixing the experience and the want to get more experienced in one race field rarely comes with a more capricious field than Saturday. The top of the field was marked by the rare chance to watch Jessie Diggins, Ben Ogden, and Julia Kern practice their sprinting state-side. And all did. Chasing them though, was skiers who ranged from juniors looking for a glint of a hint they might take from them, to those who are looking to immediately measure their own sprints against the World Cup they are shooting to make it to this winter.

The podiums helped mark out this kind of unique mix. In the Women’s race, Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern went one-two for SMS T2 after all rounds were complete, while Canadian up-and-comer Shilo Rousseau placed third.

In the Men’s race, Ben Ogden and Remi Drolet made their own one-two for SMS T2, while Colin Freed placed third for the Mansfield Pro Team.

Juniors Podiums: Boys – 1st) Ivan Ivonov (SMS), 2nd) Silvester Williams (Mansfield), and 3rd) Timmothy Craddock (SMS). Girls – 1st) Mia Gorman (Mansfield), 2nd) Kai McKinnon (NYSEF), and 3rd) Emma Paarson (SMS).

Climb to the Castle – Sunday

After having Whiteface loom over the action on Saturday, skiers decided to head up it on Sunday.

That’s been a pattern, historically. NYSEF’s 18th edition of the Climb to the Castle continued the “hill climb which started all other hill climbs” tradition on Sunday. The signs were all there for clear weather and strong skiers, and as Whiteface has done year-over-year, it delivered a consistently excellent racing day.

The Long Race, a ~10k journey from toll gate to the end of the road, saw familiar faces taking on spectacular terrain. Pack skiing from a strong field, led by Ben Ogden (SMS T2), Colin Freed (Mansfield Pro), Remi Drolet (SMS T2), and Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier (Fondeurs-Laurentide) gave way to a move by Ogden to take over the field. Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier would take 2nd, in front of Colin Freed for 3rd.

Junior podium in the long-course race: 1st) Silvester Williams (Mansfield), 2nd) Sisu Lange (Paul Smith’s), and 3rd) Henry Sterner (Mansfield).

Podium in the Men’s short-course race: 1st) Isaiah Bowen (Mansfield), 2nd) Jorgen Pirrung (Mansfield), and 3rd) Gabriel Perchemlides (Mansfield).

The Open Women’s race saw Jessie Diggins (SMS T2) pull ahead early and come across the finish line in 1st. A repeat of Saturday’s podium then followed, with 2nd) Julia Kern (SMS T2), and 3rd) Shilo Rousseau (Independent) rounding out the podium.

Junior podium in the long-course race: 1st) Elsa Futch (Mansfield), 2nd) Astrid Longstreth (Mansfield), and 3rd) Greta Dickman (Paul Smith’s).

Podium in the Women’s short-course race: 1st) Mia Gorman (Mansfield), and 2nd) Leela Volyanik (NYSEF).

Thank you to NYSEF and ORDA for a Successful 2025 Lake Placid Rollerski Weekend!