Every Sunday evening, the Wauwatosa Ski Race Team, comprised of fourteen Tosa East students, four West students and one from Franklin High School, can be found hitting the slopes at Ausblick Ski Hill. “There is a whole ski race community out there that nobody seems to know about, but it really is amazing and welcoming,” says junior Grace Dempsey of the sport. “We have had some really difficult races this year against some tough teams, so even if we don’t go to state, I will be really proud of our team.”
Competitive ski racing has two events, slalom and giant slalom. Slalom is a shorter hill than the giant slalom, with gates closer together, making the turns much sharper. In both events the skier must weave between the gates, in the hopes of a fast time. “As long as you can get down the hill in one piece normally and have prior skiing experience, you are welcome to join,” explains Dempsey. Tosa East team captain, senior Savannah Nielson, mentions that most Thursday nights the team is competing. “Races vary in location from Holy Hill, Little Switzerland, Alpine Valley and Sunburst Ski Hill.”
The season went well, with the Junior Varsity girls team finishing 12th with a score of 41 points, JV boys in 22nd with 22 points, Varsity girls in 16th with 36 points and Varsity boys in 21st with 28 points. Head Coach Phil Piering notes, “our school is competing against some pretty big schools, like Arrowhead, Oconomowoc, Brookfield East and Central, Marquette, DSHA, ULS, BA [and] Catholic Memorial, [and] most of their kids compete with local clubs and practice four days a week.” Not to mention the team lost five seniors since last year, and gained seven freshmen new to ski racing. Even being new to the sport, the JV girls team is doing considerably well, especially at a recent meet at Holy Hill where they placed first. Five girls placed, including freshman Alexandra Heller, and seniors Nielson and Tea Dralle, sweeping the podium in first, second and third. At the same meet, the Varsity girls placed second and the Varsity boys fourth.
Yet the main points of the sport, of course, are to have fun, grow as a team and improve individual times. Freshman Sophie Hardman reflects on the season in saying, “Despite the fact that skiing is individual, I felt that our team was really close throughout the season. Everyone was always very encouraging even if you didn’t do well.” After their last meet, the team will be comparing times from the beginning of the season. Hardman said, “I started the team not knowing how to race at all, so I have definitely come a long way. Ski team is a really good experience for those who want a challenge but also want to have an amazing time doing so.”
Even though the season is winding to an end, the team is really proud of Grace Dempsey for qualifying for the state race. Dempsey hoped the whole team would qualify, as they had all put in so much work. She is not going for personal reasons and is looking forward to hopefully going next year. Outside of the Wauwatosa team, Grace also skis for Wisconsin Junior Racing, essentially a “club” team. She practices an average of six hours a week, and races for ten. “Each race takes around five hours even though you are actually only going through the gates for about a minute of that. The rest of the race is taken up by free skiing, drill, and hanging out in the warming hut or chalet,” Dempsey reports.