No snow? No problem? Well for South Eugene’s nordic ski team this is partially true. Nordic’s season began in December where the team worked on strength conditioning indoors however they were unable to get onto the snow until January which is later than typical for the team. Between January and February the team competed in six races including the state championship this past weekend, February 20-21st. The nordic team currently has 15 high school students on it and one provisional skier, a middle school student, for the 2025-26 season. 

As far as snow goes, for the nordic team it actually has been a problem especially as far as practicing goes. “We’ve had a lot of struggles due to lack of snow,” said South senior Lydia Valentine, “we’ve had to cancel or move races to different mountains further away just to be able to find snow.” 

Oregon has had a particularly dry winter as far as snow goes with multiple mountains around the state having to close down during peak ski season due to lack of snow. The team ended up having to practice after races or during the races themselves seeing as it was the only time that the team was able to get on snow. “I went into my first race having only skied nordic once,” Valentine said, “I basically had to try and learn as I raced.”

Despite the snow, or rather the lack there of, the nordic team managed to find the positives in the season. The team might’ve had to travel down to Mt. Shasta just to get some snow but the skiers found joy in all the curveballs they were hit with. Valentine remembered a time when she was doing a warm up ski with the team, some of the only times the team skied all together, “It was such a nice day, super sunny and warm, beautiful location and everyone was just chatting and skiing together,” she said, “It made me realize how nice nordic is beyond just the racing part but how enjoyable it is to be skiing with friends outdoors.”

Article by Maggie McMillen