Alpine Skiing: Thanksgiving Camp

From Guest Blogger: Ashley Langlands '12

The Ladies

The alpine ski team has finally kicked off the season over Thanksgiving break with five days of skiing in Sunday River, Maine.  Eight guys and six gals (along with our two coaches!) packed up three SMC vans, and caravanned four hours in search of snow! No doubt about it, we found some!

It was the first time on-snow for the majority of the team members this season. We began with a fun-filled day of drills and free skiing, which soon built up to some gate training over the next few days.  Each day the mountain kept the snow guns at full blast to increase coverage, and open some new terrain.  As the days went by, the weather got even better and the sun was even shining the last two days!

Carl Oscar and John David

Spending as much time together as we do, we become our own sort of family. The close-ties of this year's team became apparent on Thanksgiving when 16 of us sat around a family table and enjoyed an amazing turkey dinner with all the fixings (and of course some yummy dessert!) at the Bethel Inn. We squeezed in, passed the gravy, and spilled some things, too. :-P

With every family comes sibling rivalry. On Saturday night, the team played Laser Tag and things got pretty intense. Everyone was preparing their game faces for the ski season.

All in all, the camp was a total success! Great on snow training and fun-filled adventures with teammates! 

The Coaches

Some team members will be racing this Saturday at Killington in a Vermont Cup race, so keep your fingers crossed and your eyes peeled for results!