The Alpine Ski Team wrapped up another successful season as the state tournament concluded this past weekend. The team had four skiers representing BSM— Grace Horejsi ‘24, Lara Depauw ‘24, Simon McMahon ‘24, and Diego Adair ‘23 all qualified as individuals.

The alpine season lasts around three months, with tryouts beginning in mid-November and the state tournament taking place in mid-February at Giants Ridge in Biwabik, MN. Throughout the season, both the boys and girls teams competed in conference and IMAC races, as well as all-day invitationals held at Wild Mountain in Taylor Falls. The girls’ side found success in the conference races this season, finishing first overall in the conference and a majority of their varsity skiers finishing in the top 15 for every race. Despite the success in the conference the all-day invites were a highlight of the season for senior and captain of the girls’ team, Ava Montpetit. “My favorite part of the season was the first all-day invitational at Wild Mountain. There were 26 teams from all over the state, and our girls’ team placed 2nd,” Montpetit said.

The boys’ team also found success in the conference this year, finishing second behind Orono. Senior captain of the boys side Luke Walser, also improved individually this season, becoming more consistent and getting to decent times every race. “My favorite part of this season was how the whole team kind of came together at the end. Skiing is an incredibly individual sport, and having people cheer you on and keep you motivated to have your best performance was awesome,” Walser said.

The togetherness of the team can partly be credited to Team Gilboa, the main club ski team in Minnesota. Many of the boys and girls skiers know each other through Gilboa before skiing for BSM. The club helps establish familiarity between skiers when they first come in as a freshman and all the way throughout senior year. “We’ve been on the team since freshman year so it’s fun to see the growth of everyone and how much better they’ve gotten”, senior co-captain Annie Maguire said.

The future for Alpine skiing is looking bright. All four state participants will be returning for next year, and three out of the four are still underclassmen. “Our ski team has a ton of really good underclassmen, and our best competitors are rising… I would not be surprised if our girls’ team ends up going to state in the next year or two,” Montpetit said.