The following is some brief general information regarding the Alpine Ski Team at the University of Minnesota. Prospective recruits are highly encouraged to attend one of the informational meetings typically held in early October, often in Coffman Union on the UMN-TC east bank campus. Feel free to check the information page regarding the dates and times of those meeting at the beginning of each season.  

      The Alpine Ski Team at the University of Minnesota is an intercollegiate competitive racing team sanctioned through the United States Collegiate Skiing Association (USCSA). Our competition within our region (Lake Superior Division) are other Midwestern schools such as UM-Duluth, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, UW Madison, and St. Olaf to name a few. The last race of the season is Divisionals - in which the top three men's and women's teams in our division can qualify for the Regional Championship race held each year in Marquette, MI. Regionals pits the top three men's and women's teams from all midwestern divisions (Lake Superior - Ohio - Michigan - Chicago) against eachother in a regional championship. It is from this race that USCSA National's slots are awarded, going to the top three men's and women's teams. The past three years have been extremely rewarding as both the men's and women's teams have qualified for Nationals each season.

      The team is a competitive team but we welcome members of all abilities and focus on enjoying ourselves as much as competing. Everyone who signs up gets a chance to race and no one is cut. Members do not need to have racing experience but we are ideally looking for members with skiing experience albeit either from a highschool, USSA, FIS, or even recreational background such as NASTAR, and who have their own equipment (i.e. don't rent at the hill).

    Below is a tentative schedule of what a season might look like:
~  Early/Mid October: Info and Registration meetings and then first full team meeting.
~  Mid October through the end of the semester: Dry land practice, this typically will consist of        our two team captains or another officer leading the team in some kind of a physical activity (Ultimate Frisbee, Soccer, etc.) two to three days a week.
~  January 2nd-ish: Practices start on the hill typically Mon - Thurs, noon to three. We typically practice either slalom or giant slalom (twice a week for each), set up a couple courses, and run as many as we can. In years past, we have had a coach to help with our racing - it is probable that we will continue with that. In years past we have trained at Afton Alps, it is also probable that that will continue to.
~  Every weekend from the first of January to mid February: Races. The races have been at Afton Alps, Mt. Ripley, Mt. LaCrosse, Spirit Mountain, Mt. Chestnut, Giants Ridge, and Marquette Mountain (respectively). We will meet as a team on Friday afternoon/evening to carpool as much as we can to the races. We stay at hotels as a team, and usually have several meals a weekend conveniently and thankfully provided by parents. We race on Saturday and Sunday - Slalom one day and GS the other.

      You do not need to practice/ race in every race; obviously school and even work comes first. It is your responsibility to choose how many days you want to practice and how many races you so choose to compete in. Typically, racers will try to make it to 2-3 practices a week and at least 4-5 of the races. It is a Divisional rule that you must compete in at least 4 race days (2 full weekends) to participate in Divisionals and Regionals (Giants Ridge and Marquette). Failure to do so unfortunately makes one ineligible to race in either of those two races.

Some Additional Helpful Info:

Car pooling:
      The team realizes that Afton is a bit of a drive from campus for practice. We also know that many racers don't have cars to drive to practice. It is the responsibility of the individual to find their own way to practice, but there are usually many carpools during the week. We have had very few problems with finding rides for people in the past. The team travels to races in a similar fashion, but usually it is done in more of a "caravan" style. That way we can stop at the same gas stations and eat at the same places if people can agree!

Dues:
      Dues were $325.00 last year, but this may and often does change with each new season. This covers National Dues, Regional Dues, Racer liability insurance, coaching, hotels, gates, and weekend race fees. Please note that dues do not cover lift tickets. We try to run as economical as possible in an effort to keep dues low, so large changes in the cost are not likely.

Fundraising:
      Last year, we had a golf outing, christmas wreath sale, ski team apparel sales, spaghetti dinner, and cookie dough sales as fundraisers. The fundraisers can be opportunities for you to not only help the team out financially, but also lower your own individual dues. More information on fundraisers will be provided at the info meetings.

Please note that this is just a brief general level of information - any of it is subject to change at any time - however if you are at anyway in all interested in what we have to offer, we encourage you to either contact the team through our email address

- info.umnalpine@gmail.com - or plan on attending one of the early season information meetings. We look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,

Alpine Ski Team