By Peter Minde
MOUNT VAN HOEVENBERG, Lake Placid — “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.
Women’s podium, top, then men’s podium (all photos: Peter Minde)
Ben Ogden and Jessie Diggins, both representing Stratton Mountain’s T2 team (SMS T2) and the U.S. Ski Team, were the overall winners of the skate sprint. Behind Ogden, Rémi Drolet, also of SMS T2, was second, and Colin Freed, of Mansfield Nordic Pro, was third for the men. Julia Kern (also SMS/USST) was second on the open women’s podium, and Shilo Rousseau (unaffiliated) third.
The junior men’s podium looked like this: first place, Ivan Ivanov (not that Ivan Ivanov) of SMS; second place, Silvester Williams of Mansfield Nordic; third place, Timothy Craddock of SMS. The junior women were led by Mia Gorman, Mansfield Nordic, in first, followed by Kai McKinnon of New York Ski Education Foundation (NYSEF) in second and Emma Pearson, SMS, in third.
The continuing drought in northern New York made for great conditions at Mount van Ho’s paved rollerski track. Clear skies, negligible wind, and temperatures warming into the low 60s. What more can one ask for?
Greta Dickman, Paul Smiths College, leads up the final section of the omega
From the start of the loop, athletes climbed almost to the top of the omega. Skiers would then zoom downhill, around a hairpin turn, and go up the B-Climb. Descending back into the stadium, they would go through the biathlon range to the uphill finish.
The day was structured in a king’s court format, an approach that ensures each athlete more racing opportunities than the more formal model of elimination rounds. Athletes were sorted into heats based on their qualifying time, then skied three rounds of heats. After each heat, athletes advanced into a faster group, or went back to a slightly slower group, depending on their results.
The first men’s heat featured Ogden, Drolet, Aidan Ripp of ADK Racing Collective, and Peter Warner of Middlebury College. Descending the B-Climb, Ogden led by four seconds, ultimately winning his heat. Ripp was off the back with a broken pole.
The first women’s heat saw Diggins and Kern leading over the omega, with Gorman jumpskating uphill behind them. Diggins would win the heat, with Kern close behind.
“Jessie and I just wanted to make it hard every round, because that’s what World Cup racing is,” said Julia Kern afterwards. “We wanted to practice the feelings on this course, and there’s definitely a bit of a draft, so we alternated the first two heats and then just sent it on the last one. Just a really good, hard effort.”
Through the day, Ogden, Diggins, and Kern would control their respective heats. In his second heat, Ogden was at the back end of the pack at the start, but ended up winning the heat from Drolet. Freed was in the mix with Ogden and Drolet in the second and third rounds. With something to prove, Ripp came back to win his second-round heat.
In an email, Freed wrote, “It went pretty well. Never done this race before, so I didn’t really know what to expect. Overall, it was just a fun day racing and getting excited for winter, and for that I couldn’t be more satisfied.
“Heats were definitely the best part,” he continued. “Way more fun than solo qualifiers to me. I like to have two strategies, either go fast on the biggest climb or slingshot around right at the finish, so I never have a set plan. It’s always a game time decision, which is how I race best.”
Diggins, bib 41, leads Kern in the first heat
Kern and Diggins were consistently also at the front of their remaining heats. Diggins won a close second round. In the third round, she gapped Kern in the biathlon range to pull away for the win.
Whatever the heat, the racing was generally close through the omega. If someone made a move, it was on the B-Climb.
Of his race, Craddock said, “It went all right. I was mainly cycling this summer. This is my first hard ski effort this season. I’m happy to end up in the second heat, the final. I had a pretty bad season last year from sickness and whatnot. I really didn’t know how I stacked up against the competition. So I just wanted to get out there, go hard.”
Emma Pearson (SMS) finishes ahead of Elsa Futch (Mansfield Nordic)
Racing continued in Lake Placid today with the Climb to the Castle hillclimb up the Whiteface Mountain Toll Road. Story on that up soon.
Plus some video! First video: Jessie Diggins leads Julia Kern, Shilo Rousseau, and Mia Gorman up the B-Climb. Second: Étienne Mélançon leads over the B-Climb.
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Thanks Peter and nordicinsights for the news
For sure. I’m glad he could be there in person to cover this.