NYSEF
NEWSLETTER
FALL 2026
CLIMB TO THE CASTLE
USASA ADK RETURNS
ining a r T er Summ Camp ps! a c e R
FLAMING LEAVES FESTIVAL
Fall 2026
NYSEF
What’s Inside: 3. From the Director’s Desk 4. What’s Next: Upcoming Races, Camps, Training Projects, & Events 5. Congrats Henry Loher! 6. Valle Nevado, Chile Camp Recap 10. Flaminig Leaves Festival 14. USASA ADK Series Returns 16. NYSEF Summer Benefit 2026 18. Les 2 Alpes Camp Recap 20. Climb to the Castle 2026 22. News from Northwood School 24. Youth XC Summer Taining Recap 28. Big Snow 29. Congrats Abby Van Dorn! 30. Summer with the Junior Race Team 34. The 2026 Kelly Brush Ride 35. Congrats Tyler Erenstone! 36. KollenhoppUke Camp 40. Biathlon Summer Update 41. Thank You to NYSEF’s Sponsors Cover Image: NYSEF Alpine Athletes enjoy the sunshine on the Fourth of July in Les 2 Alpes, France.
Hello NYSEF Friends & Family, The 2026-2027 season has begun for us at NYSEF. Athletes and staff are putting in the hard work on and off the snow. While the leaves and temperatures drop, we are anxiously awaiting the sounds of snowguns that paint the landscape white. Athletes throughout the program are preparing. Some have been practicing their craft all summer and fall while others enjoy competing in their fall sports, eagerly awaiting the first snowfall. Many have had the opportunity to compete. Most notably, ski jumper Henry Loher has turned heads on the international stage with a 6th place in a recent FIS Summer Grand Prix against the best in the world. Congratulations, Henry! The venues have been filled with activities and visitors this fall. Fall Festivals like the Flaming Leaves and Oktoberfest draw thousands of people to enjoy our communities. As the more visible activities quiet down, the staff quietly finishes up crucial investments and upgrades that alter the experience on opening day. And let’s not forget parents - shuttling athletes to practices and competitions, searching for equipment at ski sales and shops, signing up for programs and memberships before deadlines - the list goes on... While we may approach seasonal preparation in different roles, each of us brings valuable input in the process. It’s this synergy, the greater sum of all parts, that allows the magic of NYSEF to occur. See you when the snow flies,
John Norton, Executive Director
Fall 2026
From the Director’s Desk
What’s Next: Upcoming Races, Training Projects, & Events NYSEF Fall FUNdamentals Camp (EAST) Bretton Woods, New Hampshire November 20th - November 25th CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
NYSEF Fall FUNdamentals Camp (WEST) Summit County, Colorado November 26 - December 6th CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
NYSEF Master’s Camp Summit County, Colorado December 5th - December 11th CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
FIS Ski Jumping & Nordic Combined World Cup
NYSEF
Lake Placid, NY February 4 - February 7, 2026
Empire State Winter Games Lake Placid, Whiteface, Gore February 19 - February 21, 2026
FIS Alpine Junior World Championships Whiteface Mountain March 2 - March 12, 2026
Congratulations to NYSEF’s Henry Loher who WON his first FIS Cup in Einsiedeln, Switzerland in September after placing 10th the previous day and scoring the first FIS points of his career, against a deep international field. Following a strong performance at U.S. National Championships, here in Lake Placid, Henry travelled to Germany in October, and placed 6th in the final event of the Summer Jumping Grand Prix (Summer World Cup), ahead of some of the legends of modern ski jumping including current Olympic Champion Domen Prevc. We’ll look forward to watching NYSEF alumni and USA Ski Jumping team members Henry Loher and Tate Frantz this season!
Fall 2026
Congrats Henry Loher!
Greetings from Valle Nevado!
NYSEF
On Monday, September 21, at six in the morning, thirty-six athletes and six coaches left the Northwood School campus and began their nearly thirty-fourhour travel day to Valle Nevado, Chile. After two flights, a long layover, loading and unloading a full truckload of bags, and a trip up the nauseating mountain road, our alpine team got settled in with some stretching and dryland training led by FIS Women’s Assistant Coach Mike Gilbert. On Wednesday, the athletes began their on-snow training with a three-day slalom block, gradually working their way from stubbies to a full set. These first few days on snow saw softer conditions and challenging but productive training! The athletes got back in the groove with some rhythm-based courses and directed freeskiing before clicking into longer skis. Following our first day off, we jumped right into the second training block: four days of GS. After pre-sunrise binding checks at the base lodge and an hour of drills, warm-up runs, and freeskiing, we set side-by-side courses on Foxtrot, a spectacular training hill right off the main Poma, where each kid got upwards of nine runs in the course.
On Saturday, October 3, the majority of returning FIS athletes and Canadian first-years competed in a doubleheader Slalom race. A bluebird day and warm temperatures made for awesome racing and training. In the first race of the day, Sarah Decary finished 1st out of 26 girls, followed by Sienna Morabito in 6th and Riley Ward in 13th, rounding out our top fifteen finishers. On the boys’ side, Hudson Marshall came in 2nd out of 34 racers, with William Carou Jones in 13th and Maveric Lapointe in 14th. In the second race, Sienna finished in 5th, Riley in 8th, and senior Brooke Connors in 15th. Hudson earned another 2nd-place finish, followed by Will in 12th and Maveric in 14th . First-year FIS athletes Noah Chaussegros de Lery and Maelle Vezina scored their first FIS Slalom points.
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On the second day, our boys’ and girls’ teams split up, with the girls staying on Foxtrot and the boys heading to the race trail, Diabala. Premium snow conditions and cooler weather made for some pretty ideal training.
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On Sunday, as we packed up and got ready to travel home, we had our last day of GS training and a second FIS race opportunity. The team headed back to Foxtrot for a quick yet efficient training session, while a handful of athletes took to the start gate on Diablata for their first GS race of the year. First-year Mia Jacques had two great runs, earning her 6th place overall, while Hudson found himself on the podium again in 3rd and senior Simon Verrault skied to 14th. Noah and Maelle also scored their first FIS GS points
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Valle Nevado, Chile Race Results: Slalom #1: Women: 1st - Sarah D 6th - Sienna M Men: 2nd - Hudson M
Slalom #2: Women: 1st - Sarah D 5th - Sienna M 8th - Riley W Men: 2nd - Hudson M
GS: Women: 6th - Mia J Men: 3rd - Hudson M
Flaming Leaves Festival
NYSEF
Lake Placid’s Annual Flaming Leaves Festival took place on the weekend of October 10th in conjunction with USA Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined USA’s National Championship Events at the Lake Placid Olympic Jumping Complex and Mount Van Hoevenberg. Competition kicked off on Friday October 9th with a Nordic Combined test event of the “Placid Style” team competition. The event featured teams of four athletes with a rapid-fire competition style. Athletes jumped the HS128 Large Hill, then immediately changed to begin a running relay race at the foot of the jumping outrun. The first round of jumpers were on the running course competing while their teammates continued to jump their way down to the changing area before tagging in for their running leg, making for an incredibly exciting event for spectators, who could watch both the jumping and running simultaneously.
National Championships took place on the following two days, with competition on the Large Hill (HS128) on Saturday, and the Normal hill (HS100) on Sunday, and Nordic Combined races on both afternoons. NYSEF had a strong showing of athletes and alumni in the field with stand out performances from athletes Tate Frantz, Henry Loher, Eli Larkin, Tara Geraghty-Moats, and Caroline Chor. At the conclusion of the weekend, both Frantz and Geraghty-Moats were named to the US National Teams.
Fall 2026
Following the test event, Nordic Combined USA held an athlete meet and greet where NYSEF’s Youth Jumpers were able to pair up with National Team members for an athlete panel in front of the crowd. Olympic Champion and NYSEF alum Billy Demong was in attendance with his 2010 Olympic Gold and Silver Medals, and NYSEF alum Tara Geraghty-Moats brought along her World Cup Crystal Globe for attendees to hold. There were lots of smiles, photos, and plenty of autographs to go around.
Saturday’s competition on the HS128 saw Steamboat’s Jason Colby lay down two jumps of 131 meters and 126.5 meters to take the Men’s Large Hill National Championship ahead of NYSEF’s Tate Frantz and Henry Loher, who jumped 120 meters/112.5 meters and 118 meters/115 meters respectively for second and third. NYSEF’s Eli Larkin placed 8th with jumps of 109 meters and 117.5 meters in a field of over 35 men. On the women’s side, Alexa Brabec took the win with Annika Malacinski in second and Josie Johnson in third, NYSEF alum Tara Geraghty-Moats placed fourth with jumps of 108.5 meters and 100.5 meters, before going on to win the Nordic Combined Women’s National title with a dominating rollerski performance in the afternoon. Niklas Malacinski took the win on the men’s side for Nordic Combined.
NYSEF
Saturday also featured a fun small hills competition in the morning, where athletes competed for Halloween themed prizes and candy on the 10 and 20 meter hills. There were two rounds of target jumping, where athletes tried to jump a specific distance, and a third round where only style was judged. Athletes were encouraged to wear costumes for extra style points, and brought out some pretty creative looks! NYSEF’s youth athletes also had a chance to ski down the 128 meter landing hill in front of the National Championship crowd as part of the event’s opening ceremonies.
On the Women’s side, Tara Geraghty-Moats had jumps of 90 and 92.5 meters to take the Ski Jumping Normal Hill National Championship ahead of Josie Johnson and Annika Malacinski. She would go on to also claim the National Championship in Nordic Combined (Gundersun) later that afternoon at Mount Van Hoevenberg.
Fall 2026
Sunday’s competition on the Normal Hill was fierce, with perfect jumping weather conditions. Jason Colby once again took the Men’s title, with NYSEF’s Tate Frantz and Henry Loher rounding out the podium. Frantz had an impressive jump of 102 meters in the second round, tying the official hill record for in-competition. NYSEF’s Eli Larkin once again landed in the top ten, with a seventh place finish.
USASA ADK Series Returns NYSEF
NYSEF’s Mike Kirchner Takes Over The Adirondack Snowboard and Freeski Series is back to start its third decade with founder and former Series Director Mike Kirchner returning to the lead role. Along with Technical Supervisor Bob Witt and Head Judge/Whiteface Park Supervisor Shannon Bentley, the ADK plans to bring well organized events and fun to the 26-27 season. This year we have 3 qualifying events in each discipline - Slopestyle, Railjam, and Cross - at Whiteface and Gore mountains and we’ve rolled back registration costs too! The schedule is up and live on both the Team App and Live Heats so you can plan your winter and register now!
We’re also looking for business and private sponsors to help with operational costs and/or donate products for our athlete bib draw at each event. We have some awesome national sponsors like Columbia, Pro-Tec, and Grabs ski poles to name a few, but we need a lot more support to continue to make the series affordable and stable for years to come. Do you have professional skills or contacts that could help us develop the ADK experience? Please get in touch if you can help. Our goal is to build community, keep the stoke alive and pass it on to the next generation of skiers and riders. Come be a part of our team! Reach out to mikek@nysef.org
Fall 2026
As always, we can’t run a non-profit series without support so we’re looking for volunteers for key roles like starters, section chiefs, and setup/tear down crew. Whether you can be there for every event or only one or two, the ADK series is a great way to fulfill your NYSEF volunteer requirements and/or earn free lift tickets for each day worked.
A Great Night For NYSEF
NYSEF
The 2026 NYSEF Summer Benefit returned to Heaven Hill Farm for the first time since 2019. We were excited to share this beautfiul space with a great turnout of alumni, friends, current families, and longtime supporters of our program. This event is the culmination of a lot of hard work from our staff and volunteers that really exemplifies the team effort that makes everything at NYSEF go. Thank you for another great night! Every year we are amazed by the generousity of our community that engages in supporting snowsports. Our silent auction once again brought in just over $30,000 dollars which allowed us to raise just under $61,000 to benefit athletes, programming, and help us meet our fundraising goals. With representation from Gore, Belleayre, our nordic program, Northwood, ORDA, and Whiteface it was nice to see our partners and community in one place!
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We’d like to extend a special thanks to our annual sponsors Mercer Advisors (formerly Long Run Wealth), Merrill L Thomas, The Black Rock Foundation and Robin and Buzz McGraw, as well as, our NYSEF Gold Club Membership. Each year we also have a number of evening sponsors that step up to help us throw such a wonderful party, this year I would like to extend special thanks to The Wine and Spirit Shoppe, The Lake Placid Pub and Brewery, Art and Martina Lussi, Cristina Lussi, Peter and Heidi Roland, Ed Finnerty, Dieter and Lisa Heckman, Dr, Helena Hozak Hasse, Steve and Tricia Asaro Kroll, Peter Benedetto, Tim Byrne, Steve and Jenn Dempsey, Greg and Lorie Harden, and Andrew and Denja Weibrecht. Finally, thank you to everyone who donated to our silent auction, we could no do this with out you! We hope to see you all on snow soon and look forward to more great events in the future!
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Les 2 Alpes This summer, 29 athletes across NYSEF Belleayre, Gore, Winter Term, and Whiteface ventured back to Les Deux Alpes in the French Alps. Led by Coaches Jimbo Johnston, Kate McKenna, John Morgan, Colden Mrak, Taylor Feldeisen, and Ellie Avallone. This camp provided some of the highest volume and most productive training we saw this year. Over the course of the camp our athletes saw the accumulation of 130-140 runs, with many training sessions exceeding 20 runs. For perspective, that amount of skiing represents several weekends of training at home. Our real value wasn't in the number of runs, but what the athletes were able to do with them. Camp began with a deliberate slalom progression including free skiing, drills, panel work, and technical exercises before moving into full-course training. From there we took a day off to relax and explore town, before moving into a giant slalom block, carrying the movements and habits developed earlier in the week into a longer radius turn with higher speed skiing.
Throughout the week, athletes understood their responsibilities of warming up, inspecting, having the right equipment, recovery, and understanding their own skiing. Video conversations evolved from coaches telling athletes what they saw to athletes identifying it themselves. The ability to understand and take ownership of your own performance is something we saw all the athletes take back on the plane with them - including some fun souvenirs! On top of the increible training, our athletes got to experience international ski racing culture, meeting athletes from Italy, France, Spain, Greece, and the UK! Not only did they make friends from across the world, they enjoyed exploring the village of Les Deux Alpes, trying all the bakeries, and getting into the mountains with dryland. They got to explore villages in the area by gondola, hiked some of the most beautiful peaks, and got to experience the glacial waterfall! This experience is one of the greatest we can offer the athletes through our NYSEF opportunities. We can't wait to see what those summer turns and increased ownership look like when the snow starts falling!
Fall 2026
Every day athletes had the opportunity to follow our basic camp philosophy ski, watch, adjust,repeat. Video analysis and individualized coaching played a major role in camp. Athletes had the opportunity to apply their feedback with enough repetitions to build the movement into something they could simply do versus something they had to consciously think about. That is one of the incredible opportunities camps like our L2A Camp creates.
Climb to the Castle
NYSEF
This year’s edition of the annual Climb to the Castle rollerski race took place on Sunday, September 13th in misty and chilly fall conditions. Racers once again took on the challenge of skiing up Whiteface Mountain via the Veteran’s Memorial Highway, with both long and short course options available starting from the toll booth approximately three miles above the town of Wilmington, or the pump house approximately 5km from the finish line at the summit castle. This year’s race brought over fifty athletes from across the United States, including the US Women’s National XC Team, Collegiate athletes from the Northeast, NYSEF athletes from both the youth and JRT groups, NYSEF alumni, and Chairman of NYSEF’s Board of Directors Andrew Weibrecht. The youngest participant was NYSEF’s very own Frank Politi, who at just age 9, completed the short course in 42:31. NYSEF’s Ada Weibrecht (also age 9) was the youngest female, also competing in the short course, with a finish time of 61:17. The race began in a light drizzle, with clouds parting on the way up, before racers climbed back into the clouds on a socked in summit.
On the Women’s side, racing was tight, with members of the US Ski Team mixing it up fresh off of their annual end of summer training block in Lake Placid. After five miles of uphill battling, Kendall Kramer took the win in 46 minutes and 40 seconds, with Sydney Palmer-Leger and Emma Albrecht rounding out the podium. The short course winner was NYSEF’s Will Preece, who completed the 5km course in 37:11, followed closely by teammates Henry Hann (39:12) and girls short course winner Cadence Kennedy (39:24). Congratulations to all of the finishers! Click HERE for full results.
Fall 2026
The open Men’s division of the long course race broke apart quickly after the start, with Craftsbury’s Brian Bushey taking the lead early and never looking back. Bushey made the 5 mile climb through the mist in a smoking 38 minutes and 54 seconds. Craftsbury Teammate Jack Christner took second place in 40:40, with NYSEF Pro Team alumni Tim Cunningham (currently racing for Team SoHo) rounding out the Men’s podium in third with a time of 47:52.
News from Northwood School This summer, many of our Northwood athletes spent their time preparing for the upcoming season both on the hill and in the weight room. Alpine FIS Women’s Head Coach Jeremy “Worm” Transue led conditioning camps here in Lake Placid, focused on building strength and endurance. Many of our athletes also traveled to Saas-Fee, Switzerland, for The College Cup Camp, a week-long program featuring on-snow training, dryland sessions, video analysis, and seminars with college coaches. These opportunities gave our athletes a head start as they headed into the school year and the new season.
NYSEF
As summer came to a close and students returned to school, our athletes jumped into preseason training with Northwood School’s new strength and conditioning coach, Mr. Maiorca. His program combines full-body strength sessions with plyometric and explosive-speed work. Our athletes dove right in, balancing the new program with agility, cardio, and interval workouts, and, of course, their classes! In other exciting news, Northwood/NYSEF Ski Jumper Islay Sheil, Northwood Class of 2028, spent three weeks at the start of the schoolyear training with Coach Rogan Reid and the Canadian Development Team on the hills in Villach, Austria, and Planica, Slovenia. Northwood/NYSEF alumnus Henry Loher, Class of 2026, also spent time training and competing in Europe, where he won his first FIS Cup in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, in early September! Congratulations to Islay and Henry on these incredible opportunities and results!
Northwood School is a coeducational, independent boarding school in Lake Placid, New York offering a trimester-based college preparatory curriculum for students in grades 9 through 12, plus a post-graduate year. Through Northwood School and NYSEF’s long-standing partnership, we share experienced coaching staff and work together on dryland programs and on-snow training camps. NYSEF also provides the Northwood Ski Team with lodge facilities and training opportunities at the venues in partnership with the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA). Learn more at northwoodschool.org and on Instagram @northwoodnysef
Fall 2026
At the end of September, 36 Northwood/NYSEF Alpine Skiers made their way to Valle Nevado, Chile, for a two-week training camp. While the weather there was colder and cloudier than we may have hoped, our athletes found great snow and plenty of awesome training opportunities—including running GS right alongside the Austrian women’s team! The team returned to campus on October 4th, and is looking strong, working hard, and ready to get back to racing when the snow falls in the Northeast.
Youth XC Summer Training a recap from Coach Julianne Stemp
NYSEF
A larger youth team, shared adventures, and a whole lot of miles and smiles made Summer 2026 one to remember for our NYSEF Nordic Youth! Participation continued to grow as athletes spent the summer doing what young cross-country skiers do best — rollerskiing, hiking, biking, running, tackling dryland drills, and finding plenty of creative ways to get stronger together. Summer gives us something the busy winter season doesn’t allow; time to build a team through longer, more varied training sessions and shared adventures. With a little more time to explore, challenge ourselves, and simply be together, athletes built not only fitness and skills, but friendships, confidence, and a stronger connection to their teammates. This group packed in some real Adirondack adventuring — on wheels, on foot, and of course, with the occasional classic summer lake dive! Some of our highlights included logging miles at the Saranac Lake High School on rollerskis, or tackling a point-to-point traverse of Pitchoff Mountain. Other training days combined some of our favorite Adirondack challenges including a St. Regis Mountain hike, paired with a rollerski at the Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center and a stop at Donnelly’s Ice Cream! These bigger outings challenged athletes physically, but they also asked them to work together, encourage one another, and share the experience as teammates.
The summer culminated with a pretty special test of all those rollerski miles: the short-course Climb to the Castle Rollerski Race (C2C) on September 13th. Henry Hann, Lewis Hann, Frank Politi, Will Scanio, Leo Legard, Ada Weibrecht, and Leela Volyanik took on the climb representing our Youth Team. And they showed some serious grit. Climbing Whiteface on rollerskis is no small task. What stood out was not simply that they made it to the finish, but how they approached the challenge. Months of rollerski sessions showed in their technique, control, pacing, and confidence. They climbed with focus and intention, settling into their own effort and demonstrating a growing understanding of what it means to train toward a goal.
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On rollerskis, athletes continued to build confidence, balance, and technique while learning to safely navigate longer and more challenging terrain. Off the rollerskis, we kept things moving with trail running, hiking, biking, dryland ski drills, strength, and games. Throughout it all, athletes learned to train alongside one another — celebrating successes, helping teammates through challenges, and becoming increasingly comfortable as a group.
For this group, the Climb was a great marker of progression — from building basic rollerski skills early in the summer to confidently taking on one of the most iconic climbs in our country. Strong legs certainly helped, but determination, patience, and a willingness to keep climbing when things got hard carried them up the mountain. A special congratulations to Frank Politi, the recipient of “Chasin the Cheese” awarded to the youngest participant in the C2C short course event.
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And of course, summer wasn’t officially complete until we celebrated Youth Team style, with a night hike and summit grilled cheese potluck dinner! After months of training and adventuring together, there was no better way to close the season than hiking up together, firing up the camp stoves, and sharing grilled cheese at the top. Something happens between teammates when you share a warm grilled cheese atop a summit, when you chow down on a plate of food between thunderclouds, and when you have the opportunity to celebrate a teammates birthday all in one. Something which isn’t directed by a Coach, and a moment that will live forever with an athlete.
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Fall 2026 A special thank you to Coach Chris Rose and Coach Matt Cook, who continue to be an integral part of the growth and development of our Youth program. Their commitment extends well beyond showing up to coach a workout. They bring tremendous experience, consistency, creativity, and genuine enthusiasm to each session, while taking the time to know our athletes as individuals and helping each of them find their place within the team. From first rollerski strides to big mountain adventures, summer 2026 was about building skills, confidence, friendships, and a closer NYSEF Nordic Community. We covered a lot of miles, climbed some serious mountains, swallowed down some cheese balls, and now it’s time to bring on the snow!
Big Snow What a Big Snow Event! Our U14 and U12 athletes were fired up and made the most of every run! We packed in tons of skiing, introduced slalom, and challenged the athletes to find balance, build strong outside-ski pressure, and really feel how they can control pressure through the turn. The energy was high, the skiing was fun, and the smiles were everywhere! We also mixed in dryland landing work, challenging the athletes to build strength, quickness, stability, and athleticism that carries directly onto the snow.
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With fantastic snow conditions and awesome terrain, the athletes were able to explore, push themselves, and rack up some early-season turns. Lots of skiing, lots of learning, and even more smiles—an incredible Big Snow Event!
A HUGE Congratulations to NYSEF’s Abigail VanDorn, who was named US Biathlon Junior Female Athlete of the Year for the 25/26 Season! From US Biathlon: “Van Dorn had a breakthrough 2025-26 season, earning her first Junior Female Athlete of the Year award. It was a season filled with milestones, as Van Dorn made her international racing debut at the IBU Junior Cup in Madona, LAT, before competing at her first Open European Championships in Imatra, FIN, and Junior World Championships in Arber, GER. Among her season highlights was an international personal best 13th place finish in the Madona sprint, 24th in the Imatra individual, and 23rd in the Arber JWCH sprint.” Abigail was also awarded the Walter G Williams Endowment Fund Grant, which is given annually to junior athletes who have distinguished themselves. Abby is a Northwood School graduate, and currently trains with NYSEF’s adult biathlon program under head coach Maddie Phaneuf. Way to go Abby!
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Congrats Abigail VanDorn!
Summer with the Junior Race Team
NYSEF
a recap from Head Coach Paul Smith
For junior age cross country ski racers, the summer is all about learning how to train. The sport of cross country is unique in that only about three percent of an athlete's overall time is actually spent competing. In other words one has to really learn to love the grind of training. Training in the end is about sending many different signals to the body. After that, if all goes well, an adaptation occurs. Some signals are louder than others, some are spaced together or apart, but the key is putting together consistent workouts and achieving a nice rhythm. In order to be consistent it helps to be in one place and have a team to work with; A group that shows up, is focused, holds a positive attitude, and most importantly has fun. When there is a strong group that holds each athlete accountable it helps motivate individuals to do the necessary work on their own when the coach or their peers are not present. The theme from the summer for our program was about building a team.
Fall 2026
Summer 2026 was a busy one for the Junior Race Team. Full training started in June, with the first practice focused on building double pole strength, with rollerskiing repetitions up Bear Cub Rd. The summer ended in August with a long four hour point to point run starting at our headquarters at Mt Van Hoevenberg and finishing in Keene Valley. We know the work had its effect, many athletes achieved personal bests in our field and treadmill testing. Most of our group began this season not feeling comfortable rollerskiing on the tracks at the Olympic Jumping Complex and Mt Van Hoevenberg, but were rollerskiing everything with confidence by the season’s end - another testament to a summer's worth of work. Another achievement of the team was seeing our athletes out on their own and with their teammates rollerskiing on the roads and running on the trails outside of official team training sessions. This is a subtle but understated sign that good things are happening in our club.
A couple more highlights from the summer include a camping “minitraining camp” weekend in the North Huson-North Creek region, this was a fun trip that included quality training sessions. The national U16 camp also came to town once again. This is a national team camp where the top fifty 14 and 15 year olds in the nation come together for a week of training at Mount Van Hoevenberg and the surrounding areas. The camp is a challenge to organize, but a project that is well worth the effort especially being able to bring it to our home community. NYSEF athletes Max Fey, Liam Stoddard, and Pepper Laxson qualified, with Max and Pepper participating in the full camp.
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With the start of fall season our team splits off into school sports, some stay training full on for skiing while most of the team to no surprise fill leadership roles on their school running and soccer teams. Good things are to come when the full group comes back together at the end of the fall!
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Fall 2026
The 2026 Kelly Brush Ride
NYSEF
The Kelly Brush Ride once again took place in Middlebury, VT on Saturday September 12, 2026, and NYSEF had a team of staff, athletes, family, and friends in attendance. The annual ride supports the Kelly Brush Foundation, which exists to support individuals with spinal cord injuries living active lifestyles, as well as providing grants and leading safety initiatives in ski racing to prevent serious life-altering injuries on the hill. This year’s ride featured a variety of routes ranging from 10-100 miles, and included an awesome post-ride BBQ and party/concert. A HUGE congratulations goes out to Whiteface Alpine U12 athlete Lilly Gilbert, who trained all summer and successfully completed the 52 mile route - way to go Lilly! Thank you to the Kelly Brush Foundation, and the event volunteers for another GREAT year of cycling! You can still support NYSEF’s fundraising efforts for the event by clicking HERE.
NYSEF Nordic skier Tyler Erenstone completed the Over Easy Mountain Bike Route on the weekend of September 19th to officially become the youngest ever finisher of the greuling DIY mountain bike race through the Adirondacks! The route begins in Lake Placid, and stretches over 102 miles of trails, gaining more than 12,000 feet of elevation along the way, to finish in Elizabethtown, NY at Otis Mountain. Tyler spent the summer training for the ride, even completing the route as a relay earlier in the summer with sister and NYSEF alum Holly Erenstone. Tyler takes the title of youngest finisher from NYSEF freeride alum Will Miemis, who completed the route in 2022 at the age of 16. For a full list of finishers (including lots of NYSEF folks!) CLICK HERE.
Fall 2026
Congrats Tyler Erenstone: Youngest Over Easy Finisher!
KollenhoppUke NYSEF
This August, a group of 19 youth ski jumping athletes from NYSEF and the Eastern Region, ranging in age from 8 to 14, travelled to Holmenkollen, Norway led by NYSEF Coaches Jay Rand and Kaileigh Moore for a one week long ski jumping development camp at the Midstubakken Jumping Complex. The camp was organized by local Kollenhopp jumper and World Cup hopeful Brage Stensland-Larsen along with Kollenhopp coaching staff as well as members of the Norwegian National Nordic Combined Team. The jumping complex in Midstubakken provides athletes with a world-class training environment that has no parallel in the United States. Jumpers were able to progress throughout the week from a 10 meter hill, to a 20, to a 40, to a 60, and eventually a 90 meter hill, each serviced by a poma lift or chair lift so that athletes would not need to climb stairs carrying equipment between jumps. This allowed athletes to maximize their time jumping during each session, conserve energy, and progress rapidly up to larger hills as the week went on.
On top of getting many hours of quality jumping in each day, KollenhoppUke incorporated daily dryland training, rollerski training, and three mini competitions throughout the week to keep athletes on their toes. There was also lots of tumbling and soccer matches in between training sessions. The first competition of the week was a team relay race which incorporated swimming through ice cold water. Competition number two was “Conquor the Hill” - a challenge in which all athletes started on the 10 meter hill, and had to land a jump past the K point of the hill, with a telemark landing, in order to “pass” and move up to the next hill. Competition number three was a true ski jumping competition, with distance and style points calculated. At the end of the week, NYSEF’s Nate Clark ended up on the overall podium with a top three combined score in all three events.
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Fall 2026
KollenhoppUke, or Kollenhopp Week takes place annually in Holmenkollen and attracts both local and international jumpers. While at camp, NYSEF’s athletes had the opportunity to train alongside and befriend athletes from Norway, Sweden, and Germany. One of the highlights of the week was sharing candy from home, trading stickers and pins, and learning one another’s languages.
Although camp activities took up the majority of each day, athletes were able to take advantage of the long summer daylight hours in Oslo and explore with their families each evening from 5pm until the sun set after 10pm. Camp goers got to take fjord cruises, waterfall tours, and visit the famous floating saunas in Oslo, sculpture parks, museums, and the royal palace! Some athletes even got the chance to ride the zipline off of the 120 meter Olympic Jumping Hill in Holmenkollen after a visit to the Holmenkollen Ski Museum.
NYSEF
At the end of the week, each and every athlete had made incredible progress, with most checking off a new hill size, and setting PR jumps along the way. We look forward to strenghtening the relationship between NYSEF and the Kollenhopp program in the coming years so that our athletes can return each summer, and so that we can welcome our Norwegian friends to our camps at home!
Fall 2026
Biathlon Summer Update from Head Coach Maddie Phaneuf
NYSEF
Summer Biathlon kicked off with a celebration of International Biathlon Day on May 30th, where ORDA and NYSEF offered the opportunity to try shooting .22 biathlon rifles as well as our laser biathlon rifles for free at Mount Van Hoevenberg. We had a great turn out, with lots of folks trying their aim on the range! This summer NYSEF launched a new biathlon program focused on adults interested in building their biathlon skills in order to prepare for the winter season. The program was a success and we'll continue offering adult biathlon programs this fall/winter! Our youth programmers enjoyed participating in laser biathlon; we bopped between Mt Van Hoevenberg and Dewey Mountain where athletes ran and mountain biked while shooting with a higher heart rate. All in all, this summer went by fast and we're already itching for that first snowfall! See you out on the trails.
Fall 2026
Thank You! Thank you to our sponsors: Merrill L. Thomas, Mercer Advisors, Black Rock Foundation, Sports Insurance, and the Donald C. McGraw Foundation.
Do you have news or photos to share with us? Contact us at media@nysef.org @nysefsnowsports @nysefnordic @nysefbelleayre @nysefwhiteface @nysefgore @nysef_fis