It may not be very well known, but the fastest sport at St. Olaf this winter is alpine skiing. A relatively small group of athletes have been waiting anxiously for many months for the upcoming season.

The first official alpine ski competition of the season may not be until early January, but these student-athletes train year round for the chance to dominate once the season begins. Hour after hour is spent in strength and conditioning training. After all, slalom competitions arenıt simply about letting the hill do the work.

Staying in shape for downhill competition is a large time commitment. In the off-season, they have rigorous dry-land training, which consists mainly of strength and conditioning training.

Coach Paul Wojick points out that alpine skiing is mainly about power and technique, so his skiers work hard to have a great deal of power before the snow begins to fall.

Once the slopes are adequately covered, three days a week are spent practicing out on the slalom and giant slalom courses. The weekends are usually for competitions, and they still have plenty of dry-land training during the season.

Intercollegiate competitions are quite grueling. They usually take two days, with the tighter, smaller slalom race first. Each varsity skier has two attempts down the slope. The next day, everyone again speeds downhill, this time on the faster, more maneuverable giant slalom. The times from the three fastest skiers on the team compose the team score.

The menıs and womenıs teams may compete separately, but they do nearly everything else together. They do much of their practicing and training together. All of their competitions are together, so they travel in one big group.

The togetherness with a small group of people results in some strong bonds. "We make life-long friends," said Coach Wojick about these relationships.

Both the men and women are coming off of successful seasons last year. Every member of the team seems confident that a lot of hard work can put them in the same position this year. Coach Wojick confesses that this is a much deeper team than last year, and the best times could come from anywhere.

Every one of last yearıs female skiers is returning for another year of competition. Leading the group are senior captains Erica Iverson and Emily Nelson, and junior Sarah Nelson.

The menıs team lost three valuable skiers after graduation last spring, but still feel confident they can fill in the gaps. Junior co-captains Josh Kinzer and Joachim Rasmussen lead a very potent attack on the slopes.

Both the menıs and womenıs teams are operated and orchestrated by Coach Wojick, whom the skiers recognize as the core of the team.

He carries the whole team on his back, and motivates them to perform at their peak ability. "[Coach Wojick] is the one that deserves the most credit for the alpine teamıs recent national success," stated Kinzer.

A little-known fact here at St. Olaf is how successful this alpine skiing team has been. They compete quite effectively against Division I schools like University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, and other regional schools.

"Historically, the alpine team has been one of the most successful athletic teams on campus," said senior Emily Nelson.

The first competition for the Oles will be Jan. 6-7, at Afton Alps. All the skiers look forward to this showdown, where they will discover what kind of firepower they have this season.

As the team waits to begin competition, they are focusing on another Division I Regional Championship this year. The goal is within their reach if they combine their talents and efforts effectively. Look for them to be standing at the top of the region at the end of February.