Climb to the Castle (16th Edition)

Welcome to the 2023 Climb to the Castle, the historic Hill Climb 5-mile course up the Whiteface Mountain Toll Road.  Back for 2023 there will be again be a Short Course option!  Join us for a full weekend of racing in Lake Placid paired with the Keys to the Castle.

REGISTRATION coming SOON

On Sunday, we welcome you to the 2023 Climb to the Castle!  This years race will feature the historic 5-mile course up the Whiteface Mountain toll road as in years past — and a new option to ski a shorter course that will have the same iconic finish!

Registration:  There will be NO Day of Registration.  All registration must be completed on SkiReg by Friday, September 22nd at 5:00 pm OR between 4-6pm at High Peaks Cyclery on Saturday night.

Race entry includes food at awards!

Bib pickup:  We will have an early bib pick up on Saturday evening from 4-6 pm at the High Peaks Cyclery guide house.  High Peaks is located at 2733 Main St. in Lake Placid.  The guide house is the building directly to the right now the front door to the store.

Day of race bib pick-up will be under the NYSEF tent outside the Toll building.  Bib Pick up will begin at 7 am and run up to 8 am. 

START Long Course:  This year’s start will be held at 15 person waves and will stage on the uphill side of the toll booth.  We will do our best to seed everyone by points if they have them.  If you have a U.S. Ski & Snowboard License or NENSA license please provide it while registering to better assist your wave seeding.  The top ranked (15 male and 15 female athletes) skiers will have access to NENSA’s matched fleet of Swenor Skate Long skis with #2 wheels.  There will be one water / aid station mid-course. 

START Short Course:  Short Course competitors have two options for a warmup.  Competitors can rollerski to the start (roughly 2 miles), or can be shuttled to the start in the Bus Departing from the tollroad gate at 7:45am.  Once at the start line of the short course, all athletes must RUN for their warmup.  Absolutely no backward skiing on course will be allowed.

Finish and Awards:  The finish will be at the top of the Whiteface access road just before reaching the “Castle.”  Weather permitting, awards will be held at the summit immediately following the event.  Open, Junior and Masters podiums from the long course along with additional prizes for the short and classic options will be awarded.  There will also be a raffle! 

NYSEF will help to facilitate transportation for competitors back down the mountain, but we encourage teams to transport their own athletes to the bottom.  We will allow cars and spectators up the mountain 10 minutes before the start.  All cars driving to the finish MUST drive all the way to the top of the mountain.  Parking along the race route will not be allowed.

Athletes will be seeded by U.S. Ski and Snowboard distance points as provided.  A seed list will be posted Saturday. 

Juniors and Seniors will also be in the running for prizes from NENSA, Swix, EnjoyWinter, and Cabot Cheese.

This event will be the second event of the NENSA Masters Cup — scored by best two of three placements of the 2023 Hill Climbs in the NENSA Rollerski Race Series.  It is one of the most attended masters rollerski events in North America.