In the face of warm weather and little snow, Park’s alpine ski team has started practicing as of last week. Even though the conditions are less than ideal, the team spirits are up and they are excited for the season.
Coach Nate Springer said the season has been successful up to this point and they are excited for the races to begin.
“The season has been good so far,” Springer said. “We have been able to get some good training thus far and we are looking forward to the race schedule starting in January.”
Junior Adam Rosvold said practices have helped the new team members get comfortable with racing and they have been doing a lot to improve.
“Practices have been pretty successful with the new people on our team,” Rosvold said. “They have been able to get a feel for their first year racing and we are really practicing a lot.”
Junior Abraham Brandt said practices have been good. He said he’s learned a lot on the team and their team bonding overall is getting stronger.
“Practices have gone well,” Brandt said. “I am learning a lot more than if I was just skiing on my own and there’s a good team connection being built.”
As far as the conditions go, Rosvold said they have been struggling. Hyland Hills, where the team trains, has artificial snow, but the inconsistent temperatures have made for rough courses.
“The snow at Hyland right now isn’t that good. It gets really slushy and bad ruts can appear,” Rosvold said. “The really icy conditions can make us ski out of the course and people have gotten hurt from how bad the conditions have been.”
Springer said conditions have been an obstacle for them. He said Hyland has worked well for them, but other places in the area have had it worse, and they are hoping for better conditions in the future.
“Conditions have been challenging so far this season,” Springer said. “We are lucky to have great snowmaking at Hyland, where we train, but we have seen and heard snow has been a challenge in other areas. We are hoping for some continued cold weather and a bit of fresh snow.”
The alpine team will continue practicing and begin meets in the middle of January.
