As the first sport back during the pandemic, the ski team was racing through uncharted territory. They had to deal with a shortened season, smaller roster and bonding restrictions. Although they had to face many difficulties, the athletes were grateful that they were allowed to have a season at all.

“The season was good,” Senior Cole Boyden said. “It was really short and brief, but it was nice to have a winter sport actually happen. I’m very fortunate to have actually had a season. So all in all it was a great season and a good way to finish off high school.”

Boyden has skied all four years of high school, but this is his first year as team captain. Boyden learned a lot about leadership as he had to unite the team both virtually as well as socially distanced in person. Along with leadership goals, Boyden had some big goals for the season and he accomplished many of them. 

“My goals were simply to be the best teammate possible, and to do as best as I could and state,” Boyden said. “ I am not a competitive skier, but I can be with all the super hardcore ski racers so if I can compete with them it’s very exciting. I became team captain this year which is very great. I got eighth in state for giant slalom this year which was also extremely exciting. I was very pleased with both of these.”

As skiing is a naturally socially distanced sport, not much changed for the skiers because of the pandemic which Senior Amelia Roseavear enjoyed.

“Surprisingly the season was not very different,” Rosevear said. “ It was a nice escape from everything that has changed due to the pandemic. They did put down the number of races so there would be less people and we stayed with select training groups to limit contact.”

The choice of being able to learn full distance has been helpful for some of the students who are very competitive racers. Junior Tyler Francis has opted to go fully distance for school so he can ski throughout the year for both Reno High and Squaw Valley. Francis has been skiing for most of his life and is looking to continue to college.

“I actually decided to go full distance for skiing when I signed up for the FIS team at Squaw which is a lot more time-consuming and lots of traveling,” Francis said. “In a normal year I wouldn’t ever be in school, it just makes sense to have a more flexible schedule. I would like to go onto ski on a college team or potentially get a scholarship, but honestly at this point I just want to try and get better. I really want to enjoy skiing with the team while I can before we all go to college and go our separate ways.”

The ski team advanced to the state championship where the boys and girls  were both awarded third place overall. Although the season was shortened, the team was still able to bond and work on their skiing techniques. As part of their recognition, the team was able to celebrate their achievements with an AV rental for award ceremony. Next year the racers are hoping to have a regular season so they can practice more together and hangout outside of competitions.