South’s downhill ski team is ready for the winter season and competition.

As fall turns to winter, the South Eugene downhill ski team is beginning to train for their upcoming season. With only a handful of members, the ski team is always looking for new skiers. 

The downhill ski team competes by racing down a course in a timed-trial fashion. Racers must weave around “gates” set up all around the course on slalom or giant slalom courses, and they ski down the hill as quickly as possible. While they ski, they must pass through and tag one of two plastic poles that constitute the gate. If a player misses a gate, they are disqualified from the race. 

“It’s a lot of hurry-up and wait,” senior Grace Sharman, a member of South’s downhill ski team, said. “We wait for our turn to go and then we weave around the gates.”  

At practices, South skiers help set up and tear down their own gates, which not only gives them an opportunity to construct their practice courses, but also helps them build up their work ethic. On weekdays, they participate in dry land training, which consists of running and cardio to build up their fitness for the physical stress of a downhill ski race.  

South’s downhill ski team has six regular season races throughout the winter. In past years, they have gone to the state championships, and they hope to repeat this feat again this year. The women’s ski team hopes to improve on their 19th-place from last year. 

However, competition is not the only thing the ski team is focused on. With long drives to courses all around the state, the skiers spend a lot of time in the car together and, as a result, have built up friendship and camaraderie with each other. Sometimes, they share breakfasts together after leaving for the Willamette Pass Ski Resort at five in the morning on weekends. 

“It is really fun to be in a community that also loves to ski,” Sharman, who has been skiing her whole life, said. “We have a lot of fun together.”

Article by Daniel Harms