After five grueling weeks of long travel, poor weather, and jam-packed weekends, the RPI men’s ski team is on their way to the Mideast Regional’s of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA). Friday’s giant slalom competition brings this hard-working squad to Labrador Mountain in Truxton, New York, while Saturday’s slalom brings them to Toggenburg Mountain, located in Fabius, New York.
The varsity team, consisting of seniors Brian Morgan, John Williams, Nick Maniscalco, Bradley Ferrada, as well as freshman Alex Robb, has consistently placed third in giant slalom, slalom, and combined in each of their meets this season. Individually, Morgan placed third in giant slalom, and second place overall combined at the Hamilton Invitational on January 26th and 27th, which was also held at Labrador Mountain.
Unlike some of the other schools RPI competes against in the Adirondack Division, which include the U.S. Military Academy, Clarkson University, Colgate University, Hamilton College, the University of Albany, and Skidmore College, the ski team at Rensselaer is entirely student run. This season, the team is governed by Maniscalco and Ferrada, who organize everything from midweek practices to lodging for the race. Each weekend, the team generally brings five varsity male racers, and five varsity female racers. In addition, usually five or six junior varsity members for either the men’s or women’s team will also be on hand for the race.
Previous race sites included Song Mountain in Tully, New York for the USMA Invitational; Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington for the Clarkson Invitational; New York, Toggenburg Mountain for the Colgate Invitational; and most recently, West Mountain, located in Glens Falls, New York for the Skidmore Invitational. The runs at each mountain vary greatly, from relatively flat courses to those formerly used for the alpine ski events of the 1980 Winter Olympics held at Lake Placid, New York.
Another strong performance this weekend could grant the team one of five spots reserved for teams in the Eastern Region of the United States to compete in the USCSA National Championships, which will be held from March 3rd through the 8th at Sunday River Ski Resort, located in Newry, Maine.
