There’s something about the first scar-causing gruesome accident a skier partakes in which makes him or her really appreciate the sport of choice.

Tyler Christoff, a junior forest and nature resource engineering major, has caused an uncountable amount of damage to his body since joining Syracuse University’s varsity team within the ski racing club his freshman year. Last year alone he broke a couple of ribs and tore cartilage in his knee, but all this only made him want to get back onto the mountain and do it all again.

‘My injuries didn’t deter me at all; as a matter of fact, it fired me up for this season and made me want to do better,’ Christoff said. ‘I don’t think you can talk to a skier who hasn’t had their fair share of injuries.’

All the pain and suffering the team has faced pays off, as the varsity squad has consistently made it to the regional and national club team championships for the last three years. This is a feat which hasn’t been accomplished at SU since the early ’80s. In years past, the club’s athletes have also been named some of the best skiers in the region, and it seems this year they are going to pull it off again. The experienced skiers are at the top of their ability right now and the freshmen have a lot of talent, which gives the group a lot of depth, said Jeff Eagen, coach of SU’s ski racing club.

This weekend at Toggenburg Mountain, the home field for the SU team, around 15 schools will be competing in the last race of the season. At the completion of this event, four teams will be chosen to compete in the regional matches in Pennsylvania. Judges will also announce the athletes who qualify for ‘all conference,’ an award for the year’s top male and female skiers.

‘We are very excited because we have a good chance of having all our guys being named for it,’ said Ben Roy, captain of the men’s varsity team and a junior television, radio and film major. ‘That would be a first for our team, and probably for any team.’

SU’s ski club is one of the largest athletic clubs on campus and one of the best run programs in the country, said Eagen. Official practice begins in December with a pre-season ski camp, where, out of the 70 members, eight or nine athletes are picked to be on the men’s and women’s varsity team. These are the athletes who will race against other colleges in the region during the season. The rest of the club is put on junior varsity and compete against each other for the experiences of racing and team membership. However, some people pay to go to the ski camp and then don’t go skiing at all, said Sara FitzPatrick, captain of the women’s varsity team and a senior advertising design major. Instead they just go to the parties.

Club ski racing is unlike any other skiing event. Out of the eight or nine members on the varsity team, only five skiers, predetermined before the event begins by the coach, participate in a race. The best three of their times are added together, and the team that has the lowest time wins the competition.

‘It’s different skiing for a team rather than just for yourself; you have to keep everything in mind,’ said Pat McCool, an undecided freshman in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. ‘You can’t really just have yourself in mind when you’re getting ready at the top of the hill; you have the think of the entire team.’

McCool is one of the new freshman additions to the varsity team, and says the club has been one of the most accommodating aspects of SU for him.

‘I came from Minnesota, and I didn’t know anyone before coming here,’ McCool said. ‘I met people in the dorms and through classes, but ski team has helped me make a whole bunch of new friends. It’s a really good environment.’

While the club has become a prestigious part of Syracuse, members are constantly reminded that they don’t get the recognition or prestige Division I teams receive. Still, many feel the team is better off being a club instead of part of the sports program. They are able to have as many members as they want, and be entirely student-run instead of following D-I guidelines. There are also fewer pressures on the athletes to perform well and more chances to just have fun, which is the team’s number one priority, Roy said.

Yet there are also many downsides to be not being a Division I team, most of which involve money. The club is not nearly funded well enough for such an expensive sport, and team members can’t practice in any gym or field at SU like most sports. Instead, they have to be transported to a mountain. This, added to the cost of actually getting to the events and the price of performing in them, quickly becomes expensive.

‘I expect both our teams are going to make nationals in Idaho and that’s going to cost about $1000 per athlete just to get them out there,’ Eagen said, ‘and that’s just not in the budget at SU.’

Three years ago the finals were held in Lake Tahoe, Calif., which was a great place for them to be, and this year they’re in Idaho, which is sure to be fun as well, said Roy.

Ski club does a lot of its own fundraising to make events like these possible, said Joe Lore, associate director of Recreation Services for club sports, fitness centers and facilities.

‘The ski racing club’s members are very active, they are very well organized, they are very competitive,’ Lore said. ‘They put a lot of time and effort into what they do, and the student’s athletes that are members of the club are reaping the benefits of the hard work of their officers.’

Whether competing against other schools or just having fun, the members of SU’s ski racing team feel their club is one of the best on campus. The group combines the thrill of competing with the camaraderie brought on by so many people interested in the same thing. There is a lot of pressure in ski racing, and the relaxed nature of the club makes it a lot more fun; everyone’s looking to have a good time over winning, Christoff said.

‘Syracuse is miserable in the winter, and having something to do and getting off campus is a nice break,’ FitzPatrick said. ‘God knows everyone hates walking around in Syracuse in the cold, and I think we are the only people who look forward to the snow.’

Published on February 17, 2005 at 12:00 pm