NYSEF August 2023 Newsletter

August Newsletter

An August to Remember!

Wow, these summer months really flew by! It's hard to believe that we’ll be seeing the white stuff starting to fall soon! As the leaves change, our FIS alpine team heads to Valle Nevado, Chile this week while U16 athletes start packing for their annual trip to Hintertux, Austria! The team is busy planning our last two on-snow sessions at Big Snow as well as our series of Colorado projects - stay tuned! Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined athletes traveled to Norway in August, and our biathletes took part in summer nationals in Vermont. Our freeride team is training regularly on the ramps at the pool in Lake Placid.

Thank you to everyone who attended, donated, or volunteered for our 50th Anniversary Summer Benefit; we had an amazing night under the lights reminiscing and enjoying the music, food, and drinks with family and friends We are proud to have raised over $62,000 to continue to support our mission over the coming season!

Think Snow!

John Norton

Photo by Naj Wikoff

What's Next: Upcoming Camps & Events

Kelly Brush Ride

Saturday, September 9, 2023

Support NYSEF at the Kelly Brush ride by joining our team or donating online!

More Info: https://kbf.akaraisin.com/2023kellybrushride/nysef

Climb to the Castle

Sunday, September 24, 2023

NYSEF Nordic is once again hosting the annual Climb to the Castle Rollerski Race up the Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway. Sign up to race on SkiReg! https://www.skireg.com/castle-conquest

Flaming Leaves Festival

October 7-8, 2023

Enjoy the fall colors with live music, vendors, crafts and acrivities while watching the FIS Continental Cup for Ski Jumping.

More info: https://www.lakeplacid.com/events/flaming-leaves-festival

On-Snow Alpine Training at Big Snow (U12/U14):

Late-summer and fall overnight trips to Big Snow in New Jersey will provide on-snow training opportunities for development alpine athletes to refine their skills, get time in their boots, and gain an edge on the competition

Tentative Dates: September 23-24, October 21-22 (subject to change)

Cost: $350 includes coaching, lodging & lift ticket ($200 local/no lodging)

Registration: https://go teamsnap com/forms/380835

Early Bird Pricing for NYSEF Winter Programming ends on September 15th!!!

Summer Biathlon Nationals

NYSEF Biathletes Compete for National Championship

By Head Biathlon Coach Maddie Phaneuf

The NYSEF Biathlon Team made their annual summer trip over to Jericho, Vermont for the North American Summer Biathlon Nationals in early August. This event has been going on every summer for over a decade and brings in athletes of all ages and racing abilities from across the US and Canada to mingle and compete against one another It’s a great event to test your biathlon skills and see how you compare against your teammates and competitors before the race season truly kicks off in the winter. NYSEF had a crew of ten biathletes racing over the weekend, including four Paul Smith’s College athletes We were lucky with the weather this year, with temperatures ranging between 60-75 degrees and free of rain!

The first race of the weekend was a Sprint competition, where athletes shot two bouts (10 shots total) and skied three loops The distances ranged from 4 1km up to 9 9km In the Senior Women’s category, we saw PG Athlete, Lina Farra, hit 9 out of 10 targets and land in 3rd place - her first Senior National Podium of her career! We also found success in the Junior Women’s category with NYSEF/PSC Athlete

Dolcie Tanguay snagging the victory, with teammate Kaisa Bosek closely behind (hitting 10 out of 10!) in 2nd place. In the Youth Women’s category JRT Athlete Abigail Van Dorn was the 3rd American, and for the U15 Boys we saw River Gray outski the field and land on the top of the podium with teammate Duncan Van Dorn closely behind in 3rd

The following day were the Mass Start and Pursuit competitions The Senior athletes raced a Mass Start whereas the younger athletes raced a Pursuit and started based on their result from the Sprint competition, but with only 5 seconds between each athlete All athletes shot four bouts (20 shots total) and skied five loops, with the distances ranging from 6.9km up to 15 2km Though we didn’t have any podiums in the Senior/Junior categories, our

athletes all shot farily well and skied their hearts out Shoutout to Kaisa Bosek for becoming the top shooter over the weekend, where she hit a total of 27 out of 30 shots! In the U17 Girl’s category Jenna Stainken made a comeback, racing up from 7th to 4th place and hitting all 10 out of 10 of her standing shots, which was a first for her in a competition! Our U15 Boy’s continued to dominate the podium, with River Gray securing his 1st position yet again and Duncan Van Dorn fighting hard for a 2nd place position

Overall, it was an exciting and exhausting weekend of racing! Obviously it’s fun to have NYSEF athletes on the podium, but results aside we had a great mini-camp and race weekend in Vermont It’s so fun to see our athlete’s meeting and befriending other kids from all over North America, while also forming closer bonds with each other These types of events are where our athletes can create lifelong friendships within their sport, push each other to become better athletes, and begin to understand how the ski community will always be there to support them as they continue to grow not only as athletes but also as humans

NYSEF Nordic Hosts “Summer Ski School”

After spending a week coaching at the US Ski and Snowboard National U16 camp at Paul Smith’s College, Head NYSEF Nordic Coach Paul Smith hosted his inaugural “NYSEF Ski School” in Lake Placid, NY The program brought together a cohort of New York State cross country ski racers from the U16 and U18 age groups for a five-day training camp. The camp was a jam-packed blend of focused ski training and fun competition. We hope that the participating athletes left feeling motivated and energized as they head into their fall training blocks!

Celebrating 50 Years of NYSEF

A sincere thank you goes out to everyone who came out and supported our NYSEF athletes and community during our 50th Anniversary Summer Benefit!

Together, we raised over $62,000 to support NYSEF athletes across three mountains, multiple venues, and several disciplines. We enjoyed seeing ski jumpers soar under the banner of a brilliant sunset and saw freestyle athletes in action. We celebrated our athlete’s achievements and honored long-time volunteers and staff, like Debbie and Rich Harrison who were awarded the NYSSRA Connie Webster Volunteer award recognizing their leadership skills and generous spirits, and NYSSRA Coach of the Year Steve Jackson who will be retiring from NYSEF Gore after more than three decades of coaching and mentoring young alpine athletes We presented awards to numerous athletes who received top honors during the 2022-23 ski season

NYSEF's chefs Phil Barbour, Ian Swirsky, Tony Nickinello, Barb Wagner, and Francisco “Chico” Braun cooked up some amazing food, and it was served by our athlete volunteers who looked very festive in their gold bowties.

August 2023

When NYSEF began 50 years ago, it was a small group of alpine athletes and a handful of coaches. Today, it's one of the largest multi-discipline snowsports organizations in the country with over 600 active athletes from many states and nations who train at five world-class venues

Our community thrives because it is filled with people who care and who give their time, talent, and treasure to ensure that NYSEF continues in its mission.

Your generosity is how NYSEF endures. As we look forward to another season on snow, we invite you to join us in making the next 50 years of NYSEF a time of incredible stories and unparalleled achievement Thank you for your support!

August 2023

Skimeister #3

August 2023

Skimeister Summer Adventure Series Comes to a Close

NYSEF’s inaugural Skimeister Summer Adventure Series wrapped up on the final weekend of August with session three at Mt Van Hoevenberg and the Olympic Jumping Complex This Summer’s programming consisted of three 3-day sessions for athletes ages 9-13 and focused on teamwork, determination, and adaptability. Athletes at Session Three got to experience training for each NYSEF discipline and take advantage of our amazing training venues!

Day one started at noon on Friday with some icebreaker games and a team warmup before heading into the base lodge at Mt Van Hoevenberg Athletes got to take a stab at the new climbing and bouldering walls with our awesome guides Jake and Cat. Athletes tested their strength, balance, and problem-solving skills on the climbing walls while we waited out some passing rain After climbing, the group played team games outside near our crosscountry roller ski training loop

Day two began bright and early with biathlon training at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg range with Olympian and head NYSEF Biathlon Coach Maddie Phaneuf The group learned about safety on the range before learning the difference between air rifles and .22 caliber biathlon rifles, as well as the different shooting positions used in biathlon All athletes got to learn how to safely shoot air rifles from the prone position and then participated in team games and races which simulated a biathlon competition.

After the biathlon session, Nordic athletes took to their rollerskis for a skills session with coach Julianne while alpine and freeride athletes took on an obstacle course and teamwork activity with coach Kaileigh

The afternoon of day two was packed with fun! After having lunch together, athletes had the opportunity to ride the Mountain Coaster, which follows the 1980 Olympic Bobsled track through high-speed twists and turns! The group then hiked up Mt. Van Hoevenberg, with four athletes making it all the way to the top! We also got the opportunity to watch the US Skeleton Team train their push starts in the indoor ice house. Finally, we played some more team games before wrapping up for the day

Day three started at the Olympic Jumping Complex, where athletes were introduced to the freestyle ski trampolines with NYSEF

coaches Jackson and Jarka. Athletes learned the basics of trampoline safety and body awareness before learning how to tumble on the mats. Next, we walked over to the HS100 where we assisted in judging a ski jumping competition, learned how ski jumpers stand on their takeoff and launch into their jumps, and joined the Nordic combined athletes for a relay race and obstacle course

Overall it was an amazing weekend with great teamwork and resilience displayed by all!!!

Thank You!

Thank you to our sponsors: Merrill L. Thomas, Long Run Wealth, Lake Placid Family Dental, Black Rock Foundation, and the Donald C. McGraw Foundation.