Your Guide to Ski as a Team Sport

By Maggie Houseman

staff writer

Despite what some may think, ski is as much a team sport as any other. From the competitions to the practices, ski builds connections and community. By definition, the word team means “two or more people working together” and the ski team is just that.

The key to understanding ski as a team sport starts with understanding how ski works. At their races, ski teams from each school begin by splitting up into girls and boys. The girls start off racing slalom, while the guys race giant slalom (GS). They then take a break and switch events, girls racing GS and boys slalom. In their respective events, each team has six racers who qualify for the team score. The six qualifiers are divided into individual flights and race in order of them. 

When the racers ski with their flights, their time gets recorded for that event. The top four times from each team are then added together to make up the team score, determining the winner of each event. The final score and placement of the team are a result of the entire team working hard and practicing together. 

Not only are the scores an example of ski being a team sport, but the connections people make are too. Junior Olivia Phaneuf says that one of her favorite things about ski is “the team bonding, we spend a lot of time together.” On some race days, the team will be together from right after school until around 9:30, spending the entire night on the hill together. Even when they aren’t skiing they love to “just hang out and have team dinners,” Phaneuf says. 

Ski really is a team sport, with multiple people working together, not only to score well, but also to establish a strong sense of family-like community among members.

Photo courtesy of Sydney Jackson
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