No Snow on the Mountain leading to major shifts in Jesuit’s Ski Team’s Season
This winter in Oregon has had a major impact on our ski teams as our ski resorts throughout the state experienced extremely low measurements of snowfall this winter.. For our current ski teams here at Jesuit, this has led to a very different looking season as they have unfortunately had limited practice time on the slopes.
“The lack of snow has had a big impact on us because most of us haven’t actually skied in around 9 months,” said junior skier Jack Barsotti. “Without being on snow, we’re losing that muscle memory and technical ability that only real skiing can give.”
The lack of snow on the mountain is said to have a variety of causes, mainly revolving around the large challenge of climate change. With the warm air travelling from the coast to the mountains through different atmospheric rivers, the tropical moisture is said to be leading to more rainfall rather than snow. This caused a major drought in snowfall on the mountain.
As the teams have been unable to travel up to Mt. Hood, they have been forced to have primarily dryland practices until the resorts reopen. This shift in practices has caused the teams to take a deeper dive into their strength training compared to previous years. Although this shift is different than a typical season, the team is confident in their ability to perform once races begin again.
“I would say with skiing, I find it easy to pick back up even after a long break off, kind of like riding a bike,” said senior skier Lucia Crespo. “As long as we are able to get training before races I’m confident we will be able to perform and improve our skills.”
As the season continues, the team plans on continuing their dryland workouts while also hopefully finding their way back up to the mountain. As races have already been cancelled and mountain space is unfortunately limited this year, the need for more snow only continues to grow for Jesuit's ski team as they approach their next scheduled race coming up on Monday, January 19th.
