The UO Alpine team poses for a photo on Feb. 2 at Lookout Pass, ID. Photo Courtesy: Sage Sappenfield.

When the UO Alpine team lined up for their first race this year, it was most of the athletes’ first time on a course that season. In years prior, the team trained at HooDoo weekly, but the cost and time commitment became too much, so now the team saves their ski legs for race day.

Throughout their ten week season, UO Alpine spends four to six weekends traveling to races. Travel and funding is coordinated by the athletes, as the team is entirely student-run. The team also operates without a coach and doesn’t have official training sessions.

Despite a training-free season, both the UO Alpine men’s and women’s teams qualified for regionals, and the women’s team is hopeful for a national championship qualification. The team will set off for regionals in Steamboat, Colorado on Monday and compete in races Feb. 19-23.

Fortunately, each of them had racing experience prior to joining the team. Henry Adams, senior and president of UO Alpine, said when the team tables at the club sports fair, 90% of the people who talk to them are looking for UO Snow; the other 10% raced in high school.

Sage Sappenfield, a freshman at UO, raced competitively for Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy for 10 years before attending UO. She qualified for national championships three times and was ranked in the top 10 female U18 giant slalom skiers in the country. Now, Sappenfield focuses her competitive edge on the team.

“My mindset switched from I’m out here for me to I’m out here for them,” Sappenfield said. “At the end of the day, I want my team to succeed. I want my team to place well at these races, not just me.”

For Adams, team morale comes before his own results. He said he gives himself five minutes after a run to focus on himself before he’s back on the hill, cheering on his teammates.

Before Sappenfield’s first race with UO Alpine, Adams sat at the top of the course reassuring her. At Vail, Sappenfield said she felt constant pressure to perform well, and those expectations followed her to Oregon. But as Sappenfield waited at the start gate, filled with nerves, Adams told her the most important thing was to just have fun.

“I was like, ‘You’re right, that’s what I’m here to do,’” Sappenfield said. “My competitive life is gone in a good way.”

After 10 years of focusing on ski racing year round, Sappenfield said the relaxed nature of UO Alpine was an adjustment. Accustomed to working out with a personal trainer and skiing with a coach, Sappenfield said it was hard at first to have so little structure.

“I’m used to having coaches there to push me, so to not have that anymore was frustrating at first,” Sappenfield said. “But now it’s nice because my fitness is in my own hands. I can push myself as little or as much as I want to.”

While the team doesn’t officially workout together, most of the athletes train on their own time. The Monday morning following UO Alpine’s first race this year, Adams said he saw about half of the team at the Rec.

Sappenfield said she is grateful for the lack of structure as it has allowed her to explore fitness and other sports outside of racing.

“When you’re in the world of ski racing it’s so hard to understand that there’s more to life than skiing,” Sappenfield said. “Now I can put my time and resources into doing other things I love — things that were kind of put on the back burner when I was racing full time.”

For both Sappenfield and Adams, the social aspect of UO Alpine has been integral to their experience. Sappenfield said the supportive nature of the team is not something that she has encountered often with racing

“There is a night and day difference in my performance and my motivation when I have a supportive, loving team behind me versus a team that was just in it for themselves,” Sappenfield said. “So having that support now is a big reason why I am still into ski racing.”

Spending five to six weekends per winter term packed in a van or an AirBnb together while traveling to away races, there is no shortage of team bonding for UO Alpine. As they prepare for a week at regionals, the team has their sights set on two things: Nationals and fun.