The beginning of second semester is never the easiest for members of the RPI men’s and women’s ski teams. Long weekends on the road to unknown mountains out towards Ithaca, N.Y., always end with the skiers flipping between naps and furiously finishing homework in the vans on the way home. Despite its usual top placements in the league against NCAA Division I and III schools, the club team goes relatively unnoticed by members of the RPI community.
This season, the men’s team placed third overall in the Adirondack Conference of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association Mideast Division, behind skiing powerhouses Clarkson University and Colgate University, two teams that have official varsity ski teams and coaches to aid their racers. By contrast, the RPI ski team is entirely student-run, and racers help each other to improve in ability and technique. Senior president Alex Toppin handles everything from the two mid-week practices to lodging and race logistics for the weekend.
“Of my four seasons here at RPI, I think this was probably the best,” explained Toppin. “We graduated our four best male racers last spring, so I fully expected this to be a rebuilding year. But, to my surprise, the men took third the first weekend and didn’t look back from there, capturing the third-place trophy for the overall season.”
The women’s team tied for the fifth and final position for the Mideast Regional race with the United States Military Academy at West Point. Unfortunately for the team, the tiebreaker ended with the worst race weekend dropped for each team, giving the fifth-place position to USMA. Had the tiebreaker been decided by racer placement points, the win would have most likely gone to RPI. “The women’s team has struggled here at RPI for the past few years,” said Toppin. “This is entirely related to recruitment and retention. Despite the lack of numbers on the team, I am always impressed by the girls who consistently compete and work hard.”
Even though the women’s team was in sixth place after the first four race weekends, it worked hard the final weekend to tie for the final Regionals spot, only to lose the tiebreaker. Toppin continued, “I’m proud of them, and truly believe that with the majority of the team returning and the addition of a few members next year, they will be very competitive next season.”
For the Mideast Regional, which will be held at West Mountain in Glens Falls, N.Y., seven racers will be traveling with the team: two racing giant slalom, two racing slalom, and three competing in both disciplines. The men’s giant slalom team will consist of sophomores Chris Knortz and Chris Johnson, junior Mike Popp, and freshmen John Baker and James Russell. For Saturday’s slalom, the team will bring along sophomore Alex Robb and senior Lyle Newman in addition to Knortz, Johnson, and Baker.
Leading the men’s team is Knortz, who placed fourth individually among all male skiers in the Adirondack Division. Knortz, who did not ski in his freshman year at RPI, is enjoying his successes in his return to the sport. “This weekend, I am looking for the team to finish in the top five. We have some great racers; we just need to stand up and finish the races,” said Knortz. “I am hoping to make Nationals; I just don’t know how good the competition from the other side of the division will be. If I don’t make it this year, next year that would definitely be my goal.”
As far as the season goes, Toppin considers it a great success: “I set two different sets of goals for this season: one as a racer, and one as a president of the club. As a racer, I wanted to be more competitive than ever, shaving time off my runs, improving my form, and skiing faster. As the president of this club, my main goal was to get through the season as smoothly as possible. Being new to this, things started out a little shaky, but as I got used to the process, I was able to attend to my other goals.”
In its previous performances, the men’s team placed third overall in the Colgate Invitational held at Toggenburg Mountain, the Hamilton Invitational held at Labrador Mountain, the Clarkson Invitational held at Whiteface, and the USMA Invitational at Windham Mountain. In last weekend’s race, also at West Mountain, the team placed fifth overall in the Skidmore Invitational.
Sadly for the women’s team, its performances have not been as consistent, as it placed sixth at the Colgate and Hamilton Invitationals, fifth at the Clarkson and Skidmore Invitationals, and seventh at USMA.
As the season comes to a close, Toppin will miss his time with the team. “It is hard to grasp everything that the ski team has given me throughout the past four years. First and foremost are the friendships. The ski team brings all sorts of people together, and after practically living with them for six weeks, we all become very close. I can’t limit this to just RPI either. I was able to form friendships with kids from competing schools that I would have otherwise never met.”
He added, “Plus, to escape the grind of RPI for weekends of fresh air and fun is priceless.”
A strong performance this weekend could place the men’s team as one of the top three teams in the Mideast Division, which would then bring it to the USCSA National Championships held at Winter Park, Colo., March 3–7.
