Featured Image: Nordic racers conquering the Climb to the Castle. Captured by Nancie Battaglia.
Wilmington, NY-
Perfect fall weather and crisp morning air greeted 76 competitors for the annual NYSEF’s Climb To The Castle rollerski race. The race was paired with The Keys to the Castle, hosted by Mount Van Hoevenberg and the Olympic Regional Development Authority and is the second stop on New England Nordic Ski Association’s (NENSA) annual rollerski series. This years’ event was headlined by the presence of the SMS T2 team, an elite training group of national team nordic athletes: Ben Ogden, Jessie Diggins, and Julia Kern. Racers from Quebec, Paul Smith’s College, The Mount Mansfield Pro Team, Middlebury College and many other regional clubs rounded out a strong field for the 18th edition of the Climb to the Castle.
Alongside a field of masters, college, and junior racers from New England and New York, Ogden and Diggins captured overall victories with respective times of 37 minutes 38.7 seconds for Ogden and 43 minutes 48.5 seconds for Diggins. The grueling race is one of the more demanding tests of the New England Nordic Skiing Association’s annual rollerski series. Diggins, a 3x Olympic medalist, 3x overall World Cup Champion, and 7x World Championship medalist shared autographs and encouragement to all of the young competitors at the race conclusion.
The men’s long course race was a back and forth battle between Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier (Fondeurs-Laurentide), Colin Freed (Mansfield Pro), Remi Drolet (SMS/T2), and Ben Ogden (SMS/T2). Ogden finished with a punishing move in the final 2k to take the top spot with Izquierdo-Bernier finishing second and Freed capturing the final podium spot.
The women’s long course, featured Diggins (SMS/T2) taking the top spot with her teammate Julia Kern (SMS/T2) taking second place and Canadian racer Shilo Rosseau capturing third.
“The opportunity for young athletes to race alongside athletes at the top of the sport in an Olympic Year is a testament to the great community that exists in nordic sports across the country and particularly in New England.” Julianne Stemp, NYSEF Climb to the Castle Organizer, shared. Stemp also shared, “Three years ago we started a short course race with three local athletes and this year we had 16 racers from NYSEF, the Mansfield Nordic Club, and Mad River BKL which is awesome to see such a committed group of young athletes coming up and challenging themselves.”
The race begins just beyond the gate of the tollhouse on the Whiteface Mountain Veteran’s Memorial Highway and relentlessly climbs to the castle at the mountain’s summit. With a maximum gradient 10.3% and an average gradient of 8% the course climbs 2,300 vertical feet over roughly 5 miles (9KM).
For full results please visit (link at: https://www.nysef.org/2025-climb-to-the-castle-results/)
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