The USCSA Mid-Atlantic Regional Ski and Snowboard Championships took place at Snowshoe Mountain, WV this year. While Lafayette had qualified for regionals many times in the past, this year had a different excitement surrounding it, as our team felt for the first time that we could make a serious run at qualifying for nationals. In previous years our team had been happy just to qualify for regionals, this year we were hungry for something more, to really go out there and prove we belonged with the elite programs in the region.

On Friday, the giant slalom event took place. What should have taken three hours, dragged on all day as our patience was severely tested with a lightning and thunderstorm that threatened to call off the race entirely.  As we sat in the lodge for hours waiting out the storm, trying to stay mentally prepared was difficult as we felt the competition would never start up again. Half of our competitors were even stuck in the woods for hours in the pelting rain, unable to get to lodging as the chairlift was suspended indefinitely for safety due to the lightning in the area. Finally, just when we thought it would never end, the lightning abated and the race was re-started. However, due to time constraints all competitors were limited to just one run as opposed to the customary two, which threw off those of us who were really gambling on improving on our second runs.

At the same time, the warm weather coupled with the rain caused the snow on the course to get soft and rutty, and made it especially difficult for our skiers skiing in the latter half of the group.  Yet somehow, our women’s team skied to an amazing 2^nd place finish that day with Meg (4^th), Julia (5^th), and Catey (27^th), managing to edge out Virginia Tech by 2 seconds. In a competitive race where tenths of a second could decide several place spots, Rebekah Scharfe and Sam Ladell did admirably as they were forced to ski on longer, stiffer skis they weren’t accustomed to due to the FIS minimum ski length restrictions imposed at regionals. They managed a solid 28^th and 41^st place finish respectively out of the 57 skiers competing despite unfamiliarity with their equipment. The women’s team came in hot with the 1-2 punch of Meg and Julia, but couldn’t overtake the 1^st place Penn State juggernaut led by Pennsylvania all-state racer Heather Derr that day.

The men, despite having more temperate expectations coming into regionals, had a surprisingly strong showing that day as well, skiing to a 4^th place finish behind Tanner Flanigan (9^th), Matt Bernhard, and Kyle Brinkerhoff (both tying for 27^th) out of the 17 schools and 72 competitors qualifying. Navy, Penn State, and Lehigh were the only teams that placed ahead of them.  The snowboarders raced that day as well, with Freshman racer Rachel Shore laying down a smoking 3^rd place finish at regionals and Andrew Sanders pacing the men’s team with a solid 9^th place out of the 46 boarders competing. Meanwhile in the Slopestyle competition, Reed Shapiro, our free-style specialist competed and got the silver, being less than a point behind the 1^st place winner after throwing down a back flip to 720 combination.

After that first day of competition both of our teams were in prime position to grab that elusive nationals bid which had escaped us for so long. Going into the Saturday slalom our team was fired up and ready to keep skiing fast. The conditions were drastically different that day as the temperature dropped and brought heavy snowfall. Along with the flat lighting that day, it was difficult to differentiate crucial details in the texture of the snow on the course and see gates up ahead. Nonetheless, our women’s team again raced to a 2^ndplace finish edging out James Madison University by a collective 1 second! Meg paced the team with a 3^rd place finish. Julia (5^th) and Catey (22^nd) also contributed to the win. The only team able to overtake them again remained Penn State.

The men’s team, after a solid run the day before had put them in great position to advance to nationals, was in trouble from the get go in the slalom when top racer Tanner Flanigan, skiing blazingly fast down the headwall couldn’t maintain control on the more technical flats near the finish and skied out. When the competition is as good as it is at regionals, losing your best racer is often unrecoverable. While our depth proved solid enough in our own conference to finish top 1 or 2 even when a teammate or two fell, our team could not handle the loss at regionals.  Kyle skied hard to a great 15^th place finish, Matt placed 24^thand Connor 28^th, but it wasn’t enough to advance.  While it was disappointing that men’s team didn’t qualify for nationals, they still have a lot to be proud of as they dominated in the conference and had a great 1^st day showing. There is a lot of youth and talent on the men’s team and it is right on the cusp of being nationals bound.

With 2^nd place finishes both days, the Lafayette women’s team was guaranteed a berth to nationals (the top 3 teams advanced) and are eagerly awaiting the next chapter of their dominant skiing season taking place march 5^th-10^th at Sunday River, Maine.  There they will be tested against some of the best ski racers in the entire country and we are all eagerly awaiting to see what kind of noise they can make at the national championships. They will be making history as it is the first time a Lafayette team has qualified for nationals from regionals. They are also looking forward to avenging their loss against the big time Penn State program, which remained the only team that could handle them at regionals.  

 -Adi