Snow falls from the sky as a skier prepares to launch down a steep hill.
Heart racing and adrenaline flowing, there is a struggle to remain focused.
Breathing rapidly, the skier weaves through tightly placed gates at high speeds.
In most cases, it would take fear or lack of determination to impede a skier’s progress. For the Oregon Club Ski Team, fear and lack of determination have never been issues.
There just hasn’t been any snow.
The Ducks usually start training at the Hoodoo Ski Bowl toward the end of fall term. With the weather not cooperating, the Ducks trained only twice — during the first week of winter term — before their first race Jan. 11.
“The snow has definitely not been cooperating,” student club coordinator Jason Graybeal said.
Despite their lack of preparation, the Ducks have experienced success this year as the men’s and women’s teams qualified for the regional tournament this weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colo.
The women, led by sophomore Lindsay Davis, came in fourth place in the 15-team Northwest Conference of the United States Collegiate Skiing and Snowboarding Association. Davis finished third in the conference individually, including a first-place finish in the giant slalom Feb. 9 at Schweitzer Mountain in Sandpoint, Id.

The men’s team improved on a ninth-place finish from last year with a fifth-place finish this season. The men are led by their senior duo of Graybeal and Colby Gail.
Gail, who is from Park City, Utah, holds the No. 1 position for the Ducks and said he is looking forward to the weekend.
“I just want to ski the way I know I can ski,” Gail said.
Gail has been skiing competitively for 11 years and grew up in an environment where skiing is a monster.
“Skiing is the biggest thing in Utah,” Gail said. “It’s like high school football.”
Gail recently finished a year-long rehab of a torn medial collateral ligament, suffered last year while skiing for the Ducks. Despite only skiing since December this year, he finished first in the giant slalom Jan. 11 at Brundage Mountain in McCall, Id.
Graybeal, who has been skiing for 10 years, stressed the importance of practice when it comes to being a successful skier.
“Usually, someone can’t just start skiing and be good,” Graybeal said. “It takes years of practice. You’ve got to have
the drive.”
Graybeal said he takes pride in the fact that the ski team is the longest-running club sport at Oregon.
Sophomore Dylan Fournier, the No. 3 skier for the men, said emotions and fun are two vital components to being a successful competitive skier.
“We’re the loudest team on the hill,” Fournier said. “That’s why I ski, to
have fun.”
“We have a really fun team,” said senior Aubrey Kimble, the No. 2 skier for the women. “We all get along really well.”
Kimble, who spent 11 years skiing for the Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation, is in her first year at Oregon.
Skiing is a sport for athletes who have a passion level rivaled by few. This is no different for the Ducks.
“I’ll be skiing for the rest of my life,” Fournier said. “I’ll be doing it until my body won’t let me.”
Well, as long as there’s snow.