September 21, 2011 – The Climb to the Castle was the culmination of the Lake Placid NENSA camp for many of the participants…. But Friday’s workout was also challenging, in a different way.

After an easy distance day on Thursday, Friday morning dawned cold and clear reminding athletes and coaches alike that winter will be here before you know it! As the coaches headed to the jumps via vans, the skiers rolled to the venue as part of their warmup. That was just the beginning though, because the workout that lay ahead required a very thorough full range warm up to ensure the muscles not only fired quickly, but also to stave off potential for injury in the unaccustomed cold weather.

This was a classic speed session and with the opportunity to go head to head with some of the fastest skiers in the country, it was bound to push everyone beyond their comfort level. Three stations were set up each for men and women: standing starts, overspeed and starts from a rolling start. about 8 starts at each station with 2- 3 minutes rest in between each one, made for a full morning. This is not only a fun one to watch, but it tends to be a rewarding workout for the athletes because improvements are quick to come especially when going head to head with others.

After a good cool down and an easy afternoon run, everyone was ready for Saturday’s Climb to the Castle! This year’s NENSA group was slightly older than in the past (selected was based on Elite team, lowest USSA ranking points). Bringing together our best athletes proved day after day that it is beneficial for improvement, as well as fun training in a different environment with different people.

A big thanks to the USST staff for enabling us all to train alongside them, to Amy Caldwell for helping coach the NENSA group and to Craftsbury’s Pepa Milocheva who brought the Green Team over, and collaborated with transport and coaching.