The 2022 NENSA Summer Series hosted its first rollerski race of the season at the beginning of July. The Lost Nation Roll took place at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center on July 3rd, and by all accounts, was a huge success. Both men and women raced 10 k in an interval start format on the Outdoor Center’s paved rollerski loop.
Charging out of the start gate, Quincy Massey-Bierman (Middlebury College) heads out for 10 k (Photo: Paul Bierman)
Coinciding with the Eastern Regional Elite Group (REG) camp, around 40 top Eastern juniors boosted the race attendance numbers. NENSA’s Competitive Program Director, Justin Beckwith, explained that this year’s edition was the third open event they’ve co-hosted with Craftsbury and it was the best attended. Beckwith said, “It’s exciting to see the community out cheering and of course to have elites from CGRP (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and SMST2 (Stratton Mountain T2), with three [U.S.] Ski Teamers in the mix, Ben [Ogden], Will [Koch] and Sydney [Palmer-Leger].” As Lost Nation Roll was the first race out of the seven in the NENSA series, it was also the debut moment for the podium cheese provided by Cabot, which was certainly a highlight.
Geo Debrosse of Mansfield Nordic Club gets underway in the open men’s 10 k (Photo: Paul Bierman)
On the men’s side, Ogden (SMST2) topped the podium, finishing in a time of 23:25.3. Brian Bushey (University of Utah) came in second, +11.9 seconds behind Ogden. Finn Sweet (Craftsbury Ski Club/UVM) completed the podium, in third place (+13). The 6 k U16 boys competition was won by Micah Bruner of SMS (13:04.9).
For the women, Margie Freed of CGRP took top honors, with a finish time of 26:29.6. Behind her, Evelina Sutro of SMST2 finished second (26:55). In third position, Kelsey Dickinson, also of CGRP, finished in 27:04.7. Ruth Krebs, skiing for Craftsbury Ski Club, won the U16 girls race in 15:39.3.
Margie Freed (CGRP) topped the podium in the Lost Nation Roll 10 k (Photo: Paul Bierman)
Beckwith extended thanks to the race hosts, saying, “Craftsbury’s track and their amazing community / race crew make hosting a race easy and fun.”
Up next in the series is the first of three hill climbs, the Rollins Roll up Mt. Kearsarge in Warner, New Hampshire on August 21st. About the upcoming event Beckwith said, “While we know we will have a strong junior showing we are really hoping to boost masters participation in our three hill climbs throughout the series (Rollins, Climb to the Castle, and Mt. Greylock).” As incentive, Beckwith explained that there will be a special overall prize for the best two of three placements for masters from Allagash Brewing.
Taking place the same day as the Lost Nation Roll, was NENSA’s second Learn-to-Roll event of the 2022 summer season. Spearheaded by NENSA Youth & Introductory Program Director, Kait Miller, the clinic provided an opportunity for any skier looking to try their hand at rollerskiing for the first time.
Kelsey Dickinson (CGRP) navigates course obstacles on her way to a third-place finish in the open women’s race (Photo: Paul Bierman)
Miller explained that over the course of the summer she hopes to add a few more Learn-to-Roll opportunities in combination with scheduled rollerski races. She said, “So far the Lost Nation Roll is the only event we’ve done this with and it seems to be a good format with some clinic participants showing up early to watch the races.”
Capping off an action-packed day, skiers headed to Craftsbury village for a little time on natural snow. Emerging from Craftsbury’s summer snow storage, the strip was fashioned into a jump course which saw some great aerial moves.
(Photo: Paul Bierman)
Catching air on the snow strip (Photo: Paul Bierman)
(Photo: Paul Bierman)
Full results from the Lost Nation Roll race can be found here. More information on upcoming NENSA rollerski events are available here.
Racers climb the Whiteface Veteran’s Memorial Highway during the 2021 Climb to the Castle. (Photo: Nancie Battaglia/NYSEF)
The rain stopped just long enough for Caitlin Patterson and Jake Brown to savor their wins at the 2021 edition of the Climb to the Castle last Saturday in Wilmington, NY, near Lake Placid.
Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) swept the women’s podium; Caitlin Patterson edged Margie Freed for the win in 46:48.8, with her teammate just .7 second back in 46:49.5. Tara Geraghty-Moats placed third in 47:35.0.
Brown, skiing for US Biathlon / CGRP, took the men’s win in a time of 38:04:00. CGRP teammate Akeo Maifeld-Carucci came second in 39:34:9, and Junior athlete Tabor Greenberg, a U16 athlete out of the Green Mountain Valley School (GMVS), interrupted CGRP’s command of the podium in third place at 41:24.7.
After taking 2020 off due to the pandemic, the Climb to the Castle returned to the Northeast roller ski calendar, co-hosted by NENSA and NYSEF. The race leads skiers five miles up the Whiteface Veteran’s Memorial Highway at an average eight percent grade. Whiteface is the fifth highest mountain in New York’s Adirondacks; start too hard, and you’ll never recover. This author can attest.
The author completes his Climb to the Castle. (Photo: NENSA)
As is often the case, weather made the race…. interesting. Light overnight rain tailed off about an hour before the start. Although the temperature hovered in the low 50s, the humidity made it feel warmer. Clouds and fog obscured vision throughout the day. In some places, one was lucky to see a hundred feet. For a change, there was little wind, even at the infamous Windy Corner and chute, 800 meters or so from the finish.
For COVID safety, organizers started five waves of skiers, each two minutes apart. Competitors wore masks at bib pickup and on the summit after finishing their race.
Visibility low, energy high: a wet start for the men’s wave in the 2021 Climb to the Castle. (Photo: NENSA)
The women’s race was high drama as Patterson, Freed, and Geraghty-Moats worked together up the road.
“Tara and Margie and I knew we wanted to work together, especially with the way the Climb can be pretty windy at the top. It was just gonna be: ski smooth, work together, and shuffle around the leads, which is what we did. I definitely wanted to make sure not to start too fast. I did that well, though I certainly had some rough moments in the middle.”
From the start, Patterson said that she and Geraghty-Moats took turns in the lead, trading off about every kilometer. “Towards the upper part, Margie was taking some really strong leads. I was suffering a bit,” Patterson added.
With two kilometers left, Freed opened a gap from Patterson and Geraghty-Moats. Patterson said it took a few minutes for her to regain contact. At that point, Patterson and Freed pulled away from Geraghty-Moats, skiing to the finish.
“Maybe 30 seconds out, I passed [Margie],” Patterson said. “It was really strong work by both of them. It was great to ski with people because it was as tough a course as ever.”
Of her finishing kick, Patterson said, “I know that I can tap into a late surge. We were working together for most of it, and as the finish line was drawing near, it was definitely every person for themselves.”
Craftsbury women clean up at the 2021 Climb to the Castle. Caitlin Patterson took the win ahead of Margie Freed (left) and Tara Geraghty-Moats (right). (Photo: Nancie Battaglia/NYSEF)
“It went pretty well today,” said Freed of her race. “It was awesome to ski with Tara and Caitlin for so long. I don’t think I could have kept up that pace if I was alone.
“I’ve never done this race before, so it was exciting to have every step be something new for me,” Freed continued. “Even though I didn’t quite know where the finish was, or when it was coming. I couldn’t quite see it because it was so foggy. It was an awesome day out there, and I was glad it wasn’t as windy or rainy or cold as I was thinking it was going to be.”
This past winter, Geraghty-Moats won the first ever crystal globe for FIS Women’s Nordic Combined. She also won the Climb in 2018. After the race, she wrote, “It was really nice to go all out with my teammates. We skied together really well. We all had moments of fading and then climbed back on. I dropped back about half a k after the Lake Placid turn — I just kind of ran out of gas. I’m pretty happy with how I felt and it was a really fun race.”
Jake Brown wins the 2021 Climb to the Castle in a long solo effort. (Photo: Nancie Battaglia/NYSEF)
For Brown, this was his third win at Climb to the Castle, his previous two coming in 2017 and 2018.
“I wanted it to be a good, solid effort,” Brown said. “I knew that I couldn’t sprint too hard off the line, but I wanted to get into that high heart rate zone and stay there as long as I could.”
Asked about race strategy, Brown said, “I was with Akeo [Maifeld-Carucci], my Craftsbury Green Racing Project teammate. He led for the first 3 minutes or so.”
At that point, Brown said, he took a turn pulling and developed a gap. “I was hoping we could work together a little bit more, but we ended up with an awkward 20-meter gap between us that we held for maybe half the race. Then I slowly pulled away and was by myself.”
Jake Brown wears the moose-antler crown after winning the 2021 Climb to the Castle. (Photo: NENSA)
Asked if he could use this as a fitness benchmark, Brown said, “This was my fourth time doing the race. This was a bit of a slower year; I’m hoping it was just because of the weather. Maybe a little later in the year and a little colder pavement. It was kind of warm today, but maybe the pavement was a little colder. Maybe my fitness isn’t where it was. We’ll find out when the winter comes — that’s what matters.”
For Maifeld-Carucci, “It was a sweet day. I wanted to do this race for a long time, since early in college. So it was great to actually be here and do it. The weather was way better than we expected. It was a little wet and a little cloudy at the top, but there were moments when it opened up and it was super pretty. Constant great climb, hard skiing — it was definitely a hard race and a really good effort.”
Commenting on the men’s pacing and tactics, Maifeld-Carucci echoed Brown’s explanation of the duo’s ability to collaborate.
“Jake and I were hoping to ski together and trade leads,” Maifeld-Carucci explained. “He was feeling a little stronger than I was so I fell off early and we were dangling 20 meters apart for a long time. Then he started to open it up.”
Akeo Maifeld-Carucci skis to second place at the 2021 Climb to the Castle. (Photo: Nancie Battaglia/NYSEF)
In addition to Greenberg nabbing third place overall, the GMVS boys swept the junior podium.
Responding to an email, GMVS head coach Colin Rodgers said that his skiers didn’t taper for the race. “Tabor actually trained a lot in the past week including a 120 mile bike ride to raise money for the Kelly Brush Foundation.”
Commenting on the preparation for this event, and how it fits into the season preparation, Rodgers explained:
“We spent some time recently working on climbing technique. When we were recently on snow on the Stelvio glacier we were working on standing well (balanced and forward) on our skis. We did not discuss any mass start race tactics for today — I really just wanted the crew to focus on pacing the effort properly and being consistent throughout the duration of the climb. [Having] a dialed warm up and trying to keep good form when tired were also a few other things we were honed in on today.”
The men’s podium at the 2021 Climb to the Castle. Jake Brown (CGRP) took the win ahead of Akeo Maifeld-Carucci (CGRP) and Tabor Greenberg (GMVS). (Photo: NYSEF)
Did Rodgers have an inkling that Greenberg might podium?
“We were not focused on the podium, we were just focused on executing a solid race effort. We are primarily focused on competitions in March, so all of this is just trying to build momentum towards the end of the race season.”
According to Sara Falconer, a coach at Mansfield Nordic (MNC) in Vermont, “It’s a good opportunity for [MNC junior athletes] to race other high school athletes and college athletes that are here. It’s also a chance for them to compare their times to last year and see the results of all the work they put in over the summer. They can see a lot of dramatic improvement. It’s a really motivating thing for them. And it’s also a good workout.”
From juniors to collegiate to masters, racers ascended Whiteface during the 2021 Climb to the Castle. (Photo: Nancie Battaglia/NYSEF)
Ethan Townsend, Saint Lawrence University’s (SLU) head nordic ski coach, planned a training weekend for his team. SLU athletes also roller skied the new loop at Mount van Hoevenberg on Friday.
“Saturday morning, we got up early and did a run/hike” said Townsend. “They had the option of going up Algonquin or Wright or Marcy. A lot of them took the option of going up Marcy. A few of them went up Phelps and Tabletop. Probably an average of five hours.”
Mount Marcy is the highest Adirondack mountain at 5,344 feet and Algonquin, the second highest, stands at 5,114 feet. The remaining peaks named are also among the 46 Adirondack High Peaks, which are all above 4000 feet.
After coming out of the woods, the SLU team reconvened for an afternoon double pole roller ski session.
“We weren’t concerned about performance, necessarily, in this race,” Townsend said. “It’s a training race. Something to do as a group. I told them, ‘Don’t worry about the results so much. It’s great that we can come here and do this. If you just stay in level three the whole time and you’re not feeling it to go super hard, I think that alone would be worthwhile.’”
NENSA is proud to introduce their 2019 Rollerski Race Series featuring six events across the eastern region and a renewed supplier partnership with Swenor Rollerskis. The goal of the race series, and associated educational opportunities, is to bolster NENSA’s mission to sustain a vital and active skiing community in New England. The 2018 Series was a great success with nearly 600 participants from throughout the United States and Canada. Top seeded athletes in each of the six races of the 2019 Series will race on matched Swenor Rollerskis. The Series has been expanded to include the Maine Event, the world’s first Cross Country Cross rollerski event. Junior, Elite and Masters skiers will again vie for overall rankings, scoring up to three of the six events. In addition to raising the level of competitive programs in the East, NENSA intends to draw media attention to cross-country skiing and expose our sport to a broader audience. The Series has already spurred growth of organized competitive rollerski events across the nation.
The Series will kick off with the App Gap Challenge, to be held on August 3rd in Fayston, Vermont. This will mark the tenth running of the inspiring dual-technique race that climbs to the east side of the Green Mountains – registration will be limited to the first 300 registrants and attendees will experience a true XC mountain festival including live music. On September 14th and 15th NYSEF will host the Lake Placid Doubleday and Climb To The Castle a mini-tour including a 3km prologue, a sprint with agility components (at the ORDA roller ski track) and the well known Climb to the Castle, which pits competitors against the Whiteface Mountain Toll Road. On October 12th the series will return to the Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho, Vermont for the third year, shifting techniques to Freestyle for the NENSA Free Fall. This event continues to draw a robust field with participation from many collegiate and club programs. The closed track in Jericho accommodates large numbers and provides the feeling of an on snow race. After it’s 2018 inaugural test event with several Maine college programs the Maine Event will again take place on October 27th and be included in the Series rankings. This exciting head to head agility sprint format mimics the emerging discipline of Cross Country Cross on rollerskis. On November 2nd the series will culminate with the Trapp Invitational – a race that continues to attract some of the top skiers in the US and world including, Olympians, World Junior medalists and many National Champions. Invitations to the final race include the NENSA Elite and Development Team, collegiate programs, and athletes that have displayed exceptional performances during the Series. NENSA is thrilled to have the support and sponsorship of Enjoy Winter brands, including Swenor, Bliz and Anti-Freeze FaceTape for this roller ski race series.
Outside competition, NENSA will utilize the Swenor Rollerski fleet for educational events throughout New England. In addition to Swenor, Enjoy Winter’s sister brands Bliz and Anti-Freeze FaceTape have joined to become NENSA sponsors and provide prizes for the 2019 Series. Stay tuned to www.nensa.net/rollerski and our social media channels for further partnership announcements and programming updates. We look forward to sharing a new rollerski season and the sport of cross-country skiing with you this summer!
The New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) is the umbrella organization for Nordic skiing events in the region. We are a member supported service organization that promotes the culture of cross-country skiing by creating opportunities for athletes, coaches, and officials of all levels. NENSA provides year round support to bring cross-country skiers to their highest potential at regional, national and international events. florida fake id maker
Questions about programming should be directed to Justin Beckwith at justin@nensa.net
2018 Olympian and Craftsbury Green Racing Project skier Caitlin Patterson (in the yellow bib as the NENSA Rollerski Race Series leader) en route to a win in the open women’s 10 k at the NENSA Rossignol Fall Rollerski Classic on Saturday, Oct. 13, in Jericho, Vt. (Photo: Dave and Carl Priganc)
This past weekend, more than 170 skiers descended upon the Camp Ethan Allen Training Site at the Vermont National Guard base in Jericho, Vermont, for the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) Rossignol Fall Rollerski Classic. According to NENSA Competitive Programs Director Justin Beckwith, the field size nearly doubled from last year, and he believed 172 finishers made it the largest North American rollerski race.
The event was hosted in conjunction with the Mansfield Nordic Club on Saturday, Oct. 13, which was described as a “chilly morning replete with the first snow of the year on Mount Mansfield as a backdrop” and rain drizzling throughout the day, according to a NENSA press release.
In the 10-kilometer open (over-18) women’s race, Caitlin Patterson of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP), also located in northern Vermont, took the win with a time of 25:14.4 minutes, about 18 seconds ahead of her Craftsbury teammate Ida Sargent (of the U.S. Ski Team) in second. About 30 seconds back from the win, Lina Sutro of the University of Vermont (UVM) placed third.
Racers stride up a hill during the open men’s 10 k race at the NENSA Rossignol Fall Rollerski Classic on Saturday, Oct. 13, in Jericho, Vt. (Photo: Dave and Carl Priganc)
In the open men’s 10 k race, another UVM skier and last year’s winner Bill Harmeyer won in 22:09.6, just 5.5 seconds ahead of Adam Martin (CGRP) in second. Another 12 seconds back, Kyle Bratrud, of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team in southern Vermont, placed third.
Notably, the top 30 in both the men’s and women’s senior races competed on matched Swenor Alutech Classic rollerskis. “We managed a fleet of 38 – 20 from our NENSA fleet and 18 sent out to us on loan from the Midwest fleet,” the press release stated.
After the races, athletes were able to try out an agility ramp.
“The whole day had a carnival-like feel with a balance of world-class competition and camaraderie,” the release noted.
For more on this event and the highlights of the 5-kilometer U16 races, click here.
NENSA Rollerski Race Series standings(with two events left: Maine Agility Festival on Oct. 27 at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine, and Trapp Invitational Rollerski Race on Nov. 3 at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt.)
Cross country skiing is an international sport, and with that in mind NENSA is very excited to announce that we are bringing Ludvig Sognen Jensen to New England for a week of high visibility rollerski events. Known to some by his social media handle @luddeyo, Jensen is the world’s fastest cross country skier in the new discipline of supersprint racing.
His arrival in Boston on August 6th will kick off a week of events across the northeast including a stop at the U16 national camp in Lake Placid, NY where Ludvig will train with the U16s and face off head to head in a “celebrity deathmatch” sprint with Andy Newell on August 8th. Luddeyo will then make at stop on the afternoon of August 10th to the Burlington VT waterfront to set a NASTAR-like sprint course and time that athletes are welcome try to get as close to as they can! He will also make a guest of honor appearance at our App Gap Challenge rollerski race in Fayston, Vermont on August 11. There will be autograph sessions at High Peaks Cyclery in Lake Placid on August 8, and at the SkiRack in Burlington, VT on August 10.
Ludvig’s agent Steffen Aabel tells us “the absolutely [most fun] thing about working with Ludvig is to push our national sport forward with supersprint, where I can be witness to and support the pioneering work he puts down. Therefore it is incredibly cool to be able to announce that we together have created a collaboration that is part of developing sport on another continent.”
The announcement of Ludvig’s visit is part of NENSA’s push to fill a gap in the programming available to US skiers in the off season. Earlier this summer we announced our partnership with Swenor Rollerskis, as well as our continued collaboration with SWIX in supporting our summer and fall NENSA Rollerski Race Series. This series will bring together elites, juniors, and masters to strengthen our ski community, and NENSA Competitive Director Justin Beckwith is also creating a bridge to Europe and international competition with the inclusion of Ludvig at the App Gap Challenge.
There will be five races in the 2018 NENSA Rollerski Race Series. Athletes will be ranked by their best 3 of 5 placements, with senior athletes vying for a cash purse graciously provided by Marty and Kathy Hall. (1st: $500, 2nd: $300, 3rd: $200) The top skiers from pre-registration (lowest US Ski & Snowboard / FIS points) will race on NENSA’s matched sets of Swenor Rollerskis. Depending on race formats skis will be provided to the top-ten or top-twenty skiers of each gender. For more information please visit http://www.nensa.net/rollerski and for questions email justin@nensa.net and tom@nensa.net.
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