For the first time in six years, six men from the Oregon skiing team will compete at the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association’s National Tournament March 6-11 in Winter Park, Colo.
This weekend, the competitive alpine ski racing club battled in its regional tournament in Red Lodge, Mont., with 19 other teams from Colorado, Montana, Idaho and Oregon. In the team-combined slalom and giant slalom events, Oregon’s men recorded a fourth-place finish and one of its two varsity women, sophomore Chelsea Lamberson, notched 23rd place individually. That Saturday at the resort, the team learned of its national berth.
“Our guys came in so amped,” junior Ryan Burt said.
Wes Tygerson, one of three seniors on the team heading to Colorado, said 20-25 teams from the Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Southwest and East Coast are expected to compete. Albertson College and the University of British Columbia will be the two other teams from the Northwest Collegiate Conference in the USCSA represented at the event. The other schools in the Ducks’ conference are Washington, Washington State, Idaho, the University of Puget Sound, Oregon State and Seattle University.
Last year, the squad attended regionals at Steamboat Springs, Colo., where the men’s team finished seventh out of 19 teams and the women finished 15th out of 17 teams. Neither squad received entrance into nationals.
This year, the Ducks have competed in four giant slaloms in Washington and Idaho during the winter season, and have done four slaloms in Idaho and Oregon. Tygerson said the slalom in McCall, Idaho, was Oregon’s best of the regular season.
“Everyone was skiing strong, the weather was good and the conditions were right,” Tygerson said. “When you have good weather, everyone is in a good mood, and when everyone’s in a good mood everybody wants to ski as hard as they can.”
Now, the Ducks have a chance to a win a national title for the first time since the 1966-67 season, Burt said.
The race itself will comprise slalom and giant slalom events, where individuals race down a winding course around, and sometimes over, obstacles.
“It’s definitely not dodging per say,” Tygerson said. “You end up hitting a lot of gates. It’s more like the most direct path down.”
Results won’t be available until the end of the competition, so the Ducks will see action for most of the week. The best times from both the slalom and giant slalom events from three skiers’ two runs are added up. Those combined times for the events become the basis of a points system that will ultimately decide a champion.
Ryan said that Rocky Mountain College, which Oregon has seen the last three years at regionals, will be the team’s biggest competition. He said that the Battlin’ Bears’ varsity team offers scholarships to skiers to bring in some of the Northwest’s best; Oregon has relied solely on its players and their personal desires to ski to drive the club.
“We’ve got camaraderie,” Burt said. “Everyone on the team gets along and is very competitive amongst each other.” Burt and Tygerson both grew up in Southern Oregon, and all of their team skied as Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association racers. Come Tuesday, it will be somewhat of a reunion.
“We all saw each other in the past,” Tygerson said. “We’re taking University skiing to the highest level now.”