Knight was a member of the U.S. ski team for 13 years, raced in three Olympic Games and was the national slalom champion in 1996.
"I think our expectation in hiring Chip is that he will be able to walk in the door and give the women's team the same level of coaching they have come to expect," Cami Thompson, the Big Green ski team director and women's Nordic coach, said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth. "The women are confident and excited to begin working with him."
Knight who recently served as the alpine director at the Mount Mansfield Ski Club in Stowe, Vt., and oversaw training programs for the 150 participants there began his coaching career in 2008 as an assistant alpine coach at Williams College after completing his degree at Williams earlier that year.
Before he began his coaching career, Knight was a competitive racer with a long list of accomplishments. He began hitting the slopes at the age of four and started competing in races at age seven.
At the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Knight finished in 11th place in the slalom event. He also competed in the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan and earned an 18th-place finish in the slalom race at the 2006 games in Torino, Italy. Knight almost grazed the top 10 in the slalom at the 2003 World Championships, finishing in 11th place. In the NorAm Cup Circuit, Knight also posted two slalom wins in his career.
"The level of competition that he competed at will definitely be a huge advantage that we can work with," alpine skier Erin Fucigna '12 said. "He knows what it feels like to be on top and he knows what it feels like to be performing poorly, so hopefully he'll be able to use those stories and experiences to help us succeed in our own circuit."
Despite Booker's retirement, Thompson said that the women's team should not experience a tough transition.
"Some of the women have worked with Chip at camps in the past so they know him and know of him from their peers," Thompson said. "I do think that the women are energized by the change. Chip has a healthy respect for balancing ski racing with a Dartmouth education which should help challenge them on both fronts."
Sabrina Chiasson '12 who has worked with Knight privately during her skiing career said that he will help develop the team to reach its full potential.
"Chip is a great person to have on the hill," Chiasson said. "He knows how to maintain a focused but relaxed and fun atmosphere. In working with him previously, it is clear that he has extensive knowledge of the sport and passion for all aspects of ski racing."
Knight will also have the opportunity to work with the men's alpine team while in Hanover.
"I think Chip is going to fit in great and work well with [men's alpine coach] Peter Dodge," alpine skier Corrinne Rotter '12 said. "It will be good for the men's alpine team as well because they will work with Chip. I know a lot of them really look up to him as an athlete and now as a coach."
During Booker's stint as the women's alpine coach, the Dartmouth ski team won four consecutive NCAA East Region Championships and procured the national title in 2007. Booker, the 2007 Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association Coach of the Year, also led four skiers to a combined 11 All-American awards.
Earlier this year, the Big Green ski team earned its second consecutive undefeated season even though the women's alpine team waited until the second-to-last carnival of the season to achieve its first individual win. The squad remained competitive with the University of Vermont women's alpine team throughout the season, Rotter said. On an individual basis, several women's alpine skiers earned top-three and top-five finishes during the season.
The Dartmouth ski team ended its season with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Men's and Women's Skiing Championships in Colorado.
"We are all hoping to kind of be taken to the next level," Rotter said. "We are hoping [Knight] can bring us there."
