I wish I could make it to this race…I wonder how the splits from the tollgate to the summit differ from those biking. You have the load spread over arms and legs and you’re carrying ~ 10-15 lbs of equipment:
Climb To The Castle Returns in October!
Posted by: Janice Sibilia
Summary: WILMINGTON, NY – The New York Ski Educational Foundation and the Olympic Regional Development Authority announce the third annual NYSEF Whiteface Climb to the Castle Rollerski Race on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 9 am
The course starts at the Whiteface Toll Booth, climbing for 5 miles with an average 8% grade up the Whiteface Memorial Highway to the castle on the summit of Whiteface Mountain, New York’s 5th highest peak with an elevation of 4,867 ft. The race is freestyle technique and athletes will be greeted at the finish with a 360-degree panoramic view of the Adirondacks, New England and Canada. Attendance is expected from the US Ski Team, both cross-country and Nordic combined teams, along with many top senior and junior racers from around the country. For registration and race details, please visit nysef.org Questions? email Margaret Maher (NYSEF XC Head Coach) at margm@nysef.org
…first I thought it was on the weekend, but it looks like it is on a Wed which would have made it perfect with a half day off work…but sadly I have to be on the west coast for work…arrrrgh…missed the XC ski Mt. Washington hillclimb race this past winter on account of a broken ankle.
…and Trukweaz, sorry for talking Nordic before Oct 1, but I’m cracking out the rollerskis in 2 weeks.
no one is interested in a roller ski race Dev…so delete the post:-)
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Kurt, I guess just you and I…seriously, I think we could “out roller ski” a bike to the summit on that grade…do you know that the Col d’Izouard is groomed for XC skiing in the winter (the actual road).
Sounds like a cool race, Dev. It’s not just arms and legs - it’s abs and shoulders and lats too. The weght of the roller skis suggests that ski turnover would be lower than bike cadence, and at 8% I might be worried about stalling, but it would be an interesting experiment.
We have a few roads and wide paved trails out here on which we could hold similar events - a wide paved bike trail that leads up to Snoqualmie Pass with very nice views from the pass (assuming the clouds would let you see anything at that time of year), and another shorter road that leads up to s fire academy training center - it has several big concrete buildings that the fire departments set on fire somehow for practicing how to put out fires. The road is closed when they do this.
My last tri for the year is in 2 weeks, so after that it’s rollerski time. I was 4th in my AG (with bronchitis and without much training since I was coaching so much) at the Tour of Anchorage last year so I have this crazy notion that I might do better if I trained 
Chris
On a similar note, I have sworn for years that I was going to rollerski Mt. Palomar in San Diego. The problem isn’t so much getting up, but rather getting down. Alas, since I no longer use V2 products, I doubt it will happen.
Regarding your “outskiing a bike” hypothesis, not on rollerskis.
Dev;
Here’s another free event to try maybe before Epicman. But you have to use a par of the Excels. From Duncan Douglas’ blog:
http://i31.tinypic.com/6e0uw6.jpg
Over 20 years ago I had an obsession with the Keene Hill in Lake Placid. Some days I would literally go up that hill three to five times between Rollerskiing and Cycling. Until I became stupid enough to rollerski down it. I had to arrange a ride or hitchhike to the bottom. I actually even rollerskied down it on Exel classic rollerskis. Remember those long 3 wheeled skis with large plastic wheels with strips of hard rubber on the outside?? Why did do this, especially since I did not even train regularly on those vintage early 80 classic rollerskis. It was because Lake Placid Legend had it that Craig Ward had done it. Of course I had to take the challenge. It was a blast around 40 MPH on a pair of rickety skis that wouldn’t track straight for all of the the Saudi’s Riches. Constantly taking little steps like a tap dancer on speed all the way down Keene Hill by myself. With the biggest grin on because I was doing it and escaping death with every passing second.—Duncan Douglas
Cool. Rollerskiing in Gatineau Park, the guys going downhill usually keep up with the bikes at 65 kph, especially guys like Dave McMahon (www.xczone.tv). No way in hell you’d catch me rollerskiing down Keene, but if my biz trip to the west coast first week of Oct were to get cancelled for some reason, I’d really like to find a way of getting up on Whiteface with Rollerskis.
Here is the story from our WF biking climb during Epicman weekend: http://www.xtri.com/reports.aspx?riIDReport=5703&CAT=0&xref=xx
Chris, when it Tour of Anchorage this year?
Most of my plans for an away winter race are toast (at least a race involving air travel and vacation days). My company is shutting down for 14 days in Dec/Jan and forcing us to eat into 7 days of annual vacation. Whatever, I have left, I plan to use for Ironman France and hanging out in France and maybe taking in a stage of the 2010 TdF
Would love to see the descending. Climbed it the other day (by bike) and there were some interesting pot holes on the way down.
I was just thinking about an interesting workout that avoids the need to rollerski down Whiteface.
Ride down from LP to Wilmington with rollerskis and poles and running shoes strapped to a backpack (you can actually strap poles to your top tube so they stick out the back and prevent Florida bound Age groupers from drafting too closely). Lock bike at Wilmington, ditch bike shoes in bush, keep wearing your helmet, do the full 8 mile climb on rollerskis with backpack containing running shoes At summit, remove rollerskis, keep poles on, hike/scramble down Ski hill to Whiteface mountain lodge. You may chose to put helmet in backpack or keep wearing it in case you decide to scramble down a rock face since you have 3400 ft of vertical to go down. Ditch backpack and skis at Ski lodge and run back to Wilmington to get bike Summit Whiteface by bike, and return to Wilmington and then to ski lodge, get backpack and ride back to LP
This would be much harder than an Ironman, especially trying to climb WF after running/scambling/walking down 3400 ft vertical drop on the same ski run that Franz Klammer , the original Austrian Kaiser, won the 1980 Olympic downhill.
I would not be entirely shocked if someone on the US national ski team or biathlon team has tried something like this during their dryland training…those guys are animals…
Dev
I think you’ve just given Duncan Douglas a workout idea.
…as a 4xbiathlon olympian, I expect him to do nothing less than incorporate this workout around the actual day of the uphill rollerski event…
…as a 4xbiathlon olympian, I expect him to do nothing less than incorporate this workout around the actual day of the uphill rollerski event…
Actually I think he’s working on 5X…
Also his “Jacked Up” workout comes pretty close to yours…
Now the Jacked Up workout. Drive or Bike to the Cascade Trail head. Run up Cascade and Porter Mountain come down from Porter over Blueberry to Marcy Field in Keene, NY. Of course carrying ski boots and rollerskis in backpack. Quick change onto the skis and then skate back up the Keene Hill to your Bike or Car at the Cascade mountain trail head. ----D.D.
Agreed…I was not kidding when I posted this fantasy rollerski+run+bike workout and expecting him to have done it.
Is he already qualified for Whistler 2010 on the US biathlon team?
He posts on ST from time to time, so maybe he can pop in and give us an update and maybe we can equip him with a helmet cam for the race so that he can capture video…then again, he might be leading the entire group and the helmet cam will just give us videos of the whiteface climb with no people in the video.
…oh yeah, the only diff between his “jacked up workout” and mine is that he’s already done his…mine on the other hand is stupid fantasy, but that’s how Epicman started in 1999 too and now we get 70 guys showing up for 9 hours of unsupported silliness.
Dev
No I think he still has to qualify.
Here’s his personal blog.
Here’s your next purchase…skatemill.
… the same ski run that Franz Klammer , the original Austrian Kaiser, won the 1980 Olympic downhill.
der Kaiser won at Innsbruck, 1976…(Leonard Stock won at LP)
Why do I have this image of Klammer in Lake Placid 1980…maybe it was just an impriint in my head and I’m transposing the Innsbruck win and associated hype …Stock was like the Austrian B team guy that would sneak onto various podiums but never get credit. He’s like the 4th line guy that scores in the playoffs in overtime, but everyone gives the first line guys the credit.
Now this is one sport that is exciting to watch…not like watching paint dry in triathlon…do we actually make our poor families come out to watch us for 20 seconds over the course of an Ironman to stroke our egos? Now if I was flying down the side of Whiteface on an off camber turn on chattering skis at 120 kph, then I think my son would get some serious entertainment out of it…but shuffling around at 8-10 minute mile pace on Mirror lake drive…that’s frankly pretty pathetic
Dev
Now if I was flying down the side of Whiteface on an off camber turn on chattering skis at 120 kph, then I think my son would get some serious entertainment out of it…but shuffling around at 8-10 minute mile pace on Mirror lake drive…that’s frankly pretty pathetic
You don’t weigh half enough to get to 120kph…
OK, if I am going to derail my own roller ski thread on a triathlon forum with inaccurate downhill championship statements, let’s at least the Kaiser win on his home olympic course from Austria:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYj9kIxAL_o&feature=related
But this is my favourite feat of athleticism…check on the speed on the video of Bode…he’s riding on one ski after crashing and losing one of them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYj9kIxAL_o&feature=related
The amazing thing is he makes all the gates on a single ski and crashes just before the end. One one ski, the guy is riding down the mountain at 83 kph which is faster than most trigeeks can go down Keene in LP. When he finally crashes, he actually looks up the hill, almost wondering if he can walk back up and redo the gate he missed. Now that takes some serious athletic skill.
Dev
You don’t weight half enough to get to 120kph…
judging from his downhill technique on the bike, i’d expect to see dev lie down on his skis, retaining the skis by holding onto the bindings with abs of steel, and pointing his hands and feet like some kind of deadman swim drill. could he steer? it doesn’t appear to worry him on the bike, and snow is softer than asphalt or concrete …