The University’s alpine ski club’s race last weekend was initially scheduled at Hoodoo in Oregon, but a lack of snow sent the team to Mount Spokane.
The light snow has heavily affected the Ducks’ training at Hoodoo this season. The lack of snow has prevented the club from setting gates in practice, which means it has not been able to train in a race-like setting.
“It’s not so much that we haven’t had precipitation, it’s just one of those things where it’s three degrees too warm and it’s rain instead of snow,” University sophomore Gordon Levitt said.
But the lack of snow isn’t just affecting Oregon. Every ski team in the state and even teams in Washington are feeling the bind of not having the requisite ingredient for their sport.
“I know the Washington schools have been having some trouble, and obviously (Oregon State) and (Portland State) aren’t doing so hot either,” University senior Taylor Cudahy said.
Even with little snow to work with, the skiing club has still managed a full training schedule, heading to Hoodoo every Tuesday and Thursday.
On a typical day of training, the club will leave campus at 7:15 a.m. and be on the slopes by 9 a.m., giving them until 2 p.m. to work as a team before they have to leave.
Because they are away from campus for much of Tuesday and Thursday, members of the ski club are forced to load class after class on Monday and Wednesday.
“My Mondays and Wednesdays are completely packed,” Cudahy said. “On Wednesdays, I go from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.”
It’s a sacrifice that most of the club is willing to make.
“I’ve had so much fun. I’ve done it my entire four years and I wouldn’t change a thing,” Cudahy said.
The club competes against other Northwest schools in slalom and giant slalom races every weekend during the season, culminating with the regional championships in February. The top five teams at regionals qualify for the national championship in Maine.
Last year, the women’s team came close to qualifying, but had a disappointing performance in regionals. Cudahy says that even if they did qualify for nationals, there’s no guarantee the team would be able to go because of when the competition is.
“It’s just whether we can get out of school, and put ourselves through the stress of going all the way to Maine, getting our homework done, racing, doing well, and then coming back home and dealing with finals,” she said.
Because they travel long distances for races, often as far away as Idaho, the club has to rent vans from the motor pool. The vast majority of the club’s budget is spent on transportation — $4,000 a year on a 12-passenger van plus additional vehicles as needed.
The club holds fundraisers constantly and a large portion of its budget comes from donations.
“We probably wouldn’t be able to cover our expenses without much higher team dues if we didn’t have such generous donors,” Levitt said.
The team saves money because it does not have to pay a coach. Instead, the team relies on its own leadership to give advice on the slopes. A large part of that leadership is junior Craig Macfie, who skied for the Scottish national team and is a certified coach in Scotland. Macfie studied in Oregon during an exchange program and liked it so much he decided to stay and finish his degree.
Cudahy said she always asks Macfie for pointers before beginning her run, and when she can follow his advice, good things usually happen.
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