The racers stand motionless at the top of the mountain, staring down at the slope with a seemingly dejected gaze. The mountain streams out before them with a vastness that commands respect and resists dominance. Thick with tension and concentration on the task ahead, the cold air seems to gain texture and weight, as if it had suddenly become liquid. Then they are called out of their trance by a few small beeps.
"I have always said that it is much more nerve-racking to watch other people ski than to actually do it. When you are in the start, your mind is too occupied with what you are about to do to worry about its outcome," said senior captain Eric Reinhardt.
There is an intense competitive aspect to the sport that drives this type of atmosphere, even though most of the skiers from the various teams are friends and have been skiing together for years.
"We all raced together before college, so we're all pretty good friends. Everyone is going to push each other and really raise the level of skiing on the circuit," said sophomore Roger Brown.
The Dartmouth team indeed raised their level of performance last weekend, when they crushed division rival University of Vermont to take first in the St. Lawrence Tournament. This was the first week of intercollegiate competition, and both the Alpine and Nordic skiers turned in a clutch performance to lead UVM by a huge margin of nearly 40 points.
Both the Nordic and Alpine teams field extremely strong rosters this year, as evidenced by the high number of skiers who placed over the weekend. The Nordic team was dominant in almost every event, while the Alpine team has five or so skiers who could take any event on any given day.
"All of us can finish in the top of the field; it is just a matter of execution and confidence," said Reinhardt.
A victory of this margin is a symbol of the strength of the Dartmouth program this year.
"To claim a decisive victory over a perennial powerhouse without the help of athletic scholarships, not to mention overcoming the selectivity of the admissions process, really shows the strength of the program and the quality of coaches here at Dartmouth," said Reinhardt.
Thanks in part to Brown, the Alpine men's team greatly contributed to the victory at St. Lawrence. After a slow first run, he posted the second-fastest time of the day in moved into ninth place overall in the Giant Slalom. Sophomore Andrew Biggs was the highest finisher for Dartmouth in the Giant Slalom, as he came in fifth place, a personal best. Senior Dawson Brown and Reinhardt finished 13th and 14th to round out the top 20 finishers.
"I was quite happy with the way I skied," said Biggs. "I made only a few small mistakes and skied solidly the rest of the time."
The following day proved to be even stronger for the Alpine men. Dawson Brown led the squad with a third-place finish in the slalom, followed by Roger Brown in fifth and Reinhardt in 11th. Biggs punished himself in the first run of the Slalom, and thus he did not finish.
The Alpine women skied an incredible weekend. After the first run in the Giant Slalom, they were tied with the Catamounts for first place, and they didn't race the second due to dangerous conditions.
"After watching so many women crash and a couple of them needing ski patrol assistance, I was slightly relieved when they cancelled the run," said senior co-captain Alison Keller.
As a result, they counted the morning run as the entire race, which is far from typical. However, the strength of this run was evidenced in the high finishes for the Alpine women. Sophomore Lindsay Lockhart led Dartmouth with a third-place finish, followed by Keller in fourth and sophomore Emily Copeland in eighth.
The second day was just as successful. They ended the day only one point behind the Catamount, helped by four top-10 finishes in the Slalom. Keller finished in third, junior Megan Ganong was close behind in fourth, and Copeland and senior co-captain Tracy Wilson finished out the top ten in eighth and 10th, respectively.
"I believe that each individual did their very best this weekend," said Keller. "It was awesome that we as a team proved to UVM that we are strong this year and are ready to win more carnivals."
In the individual Nordic competition, the men "had a fair day," according to coach Ruff Patterson. Sophomore Andy Hunter was far from fair, as he skied to third place, a personal best. Behind him were juniors Brayton Osgood and Tom Temple in 11th and 12th, respectively. Temple's finish was remarkable given that he fell after being elbowed in the mass start at the beginning of the race, putting him at a considerable disadvantage.
The conditions for the classic race on Friday were extremely difficult, as skiers had to brave soft snow and display a considerable amount of extra endurance to overcome this obstacle.
In the sprint relays the following day, the Nordic men finished third in both scored heats.
The Nordic women posted an incredible individual showing in the classic Nordic competition, dominating the rest of the field to finish one-two-three. Senior Kate Pearson took first, followed closely by senior Anna Harrington in second and freshman Chrissie May in third. They skied together during the second half of the race, making it apparent that they were heads above the rest of the field.
The second day was mildly disappointing for the Nordic women, as confusion in the sprint relays led to a fourth- and first-place finish, if that can be seen as disappointing.
"Obviously, the Nordies came through. It's great to come back to the hotel Friday night and hear the Nordic women say that they went one-two-three," Roger Brown said.
After finding out about the crushing victory over the weekend in which they leapt ahead of the rest of the field, Brown was looking forward to the rest of the year.
"Basically, we did well this weekend, but we can do a lot better."
To improve on near perfection is a difficult thing to do.
