The following is a recap on Monday's (January 12th) Alpine Race Day provided by the coaching staff.

Wow. What a day. Those on the bus got a treat. Freezing temps all the way up the hill in the morning, and bus temperatures recorded at 86 degrees with one molecule of oxygen to share between 40 people on the way home. And, thanks to Serena for convincing the bus company to comp the day for us. So, at least we didn’t pay for the trip, but I am sure all the survivors would agree that we would have gladly paid for heat in the morning and air conditioning on the way home. But we persevere and live to tell a good story.

The Kangaroo race venue and Alpine did not disappoint. While the race department had some timing issues that led to delays, the sun was shining, and the snow stayed firm. Perfect conditions for ski racing, and trust me, we don’t always race in those conditions. Thank you also to all of the volunteers who helped make today a success.

With 20+ skiers who had never participated in ski racing, the goal today was to use this as a practice race — to let the skiers see and learn how the day unfolds, their responsibilities, and the team's responsibilities. There were a lot of nerves at the start, but everyone stepped out of their comfort zone and performed superbly. Today was a great success. The coaches are very proud!

It is tradition that after each race, the coaches send out a summary of the day to highlight the day’s accomplishments and include the official results (see attached). To that end, it is essential to note that high school ski racing is both an individual and a team event. Every individual races for their place, and to score the teams, we add the points of the four fastest for each team. We have 10 racers in Varsity, and the rest race in the open division (we don’t call it JV).

Because we treated today as a practice race (though it was our first official race of the season), I don’t want to put too much emphasis on our results (that was not our goal). At the same time, I know you are wondering.



· Varsity women continued where they left off last season by dominating the divisional races (we are in the Central 2 division). Congrats to them! They placed 8th in the top 16, with Madeline winning the race by over 2 seconds. The women won the day. Strong finishes all around!

Varsity men are facing stiff competition this year with Nevada Union and Colfax, who seem to have recruited in the offseason. We placed three in the top 15, with Martin in 7th place, and we had seven in the top 20. Nice work!

Overall, it was a great day with plenty of things to build on.