Martin Wilson Joins KMS as Head Women’s Coach

Killington Mountain School (KMS) is thrilled to announce the appointment of Martin Wilson to the role of Head Women’s Alpine Coach. Wilson joins an alpine staff that contributes a tremendous amount of sport-specific knowledge and global experience to their work with the school’s student-athletes.

Wilson, originally of Thunder Bay, Ontario, is armed with more than twenty years of international experience. He comes to KMS most recently from the National Ski Academy in Collingwood, Canada, where he held the role of head men’s coach. Prior to that role, he also served as the women’s and postgraduate coach at Stratton Mountain School. While at Stratton he was also part of the residential life program, helping oversee the holistic experience of the school’s student-athletes.

Wilson’s diverse background includes coaching NCAA skiing and tennis at Bowdoin College and working at a Maine-based private post-graduate program called Alpine Racing Elite. These past roles allow Wilson to bring a great deal of perspective and valuable insight to his role at KMS.

“We are thrilled to welcome Martin to our coaching team,” said KMS Athletic Director Gar Trayner. “Martin’s global experience and perspective will be a great addition to our community and a great benefit to our athletes.”

“I’m excited to be joining the strong and established staff of KMS,” Wilson shared. “It feels quite comfortable here; our common core values of creating well-rounded, confident, and well-prepared humans mesh well together. I love this sport; I love both its challenges and its rewards, and it is clear to me that KMS embraces it all.”

“Adding Martin to the women’s staff is an important step in the progression of our program,” explained Alpine Program Director Tom Sell. “His passion for sport is contagious and through his broad experiences he has developed a great understanding of the needs of our athletes. Combined with our already excellent staff and the fantastic training opportunities we have at Killington, we are able to offer our athletes a truly world-class experience.”

It was several years ago that Head of School Tao Smith resolved to bring focus and attention to the experience of a female athlete at a ski academy. KMS launched an initiative titled “Ski Academy Life for Girls” soon after. The decision to view the elite athletic academy experience through the lens of young women has led to the creation of important programs like the Women’s Initiative.

The Women’s Initiative is a group of faculty and students who facilitate everything from the hosting of speakers that address topics tied to the experiences of young women in high-level athletics and in communities like KMS, to the the organization of movie nights, pizza dinners, outings for ice cream, clothing drives, and holiday gift exchanges. The initiative has also led to the creation of a Girls’ Lounge at the school and has helped increase enrollment of young women in the program.

The addition of a coach with Wilson’s skill and experience is a continuation of this ongoing initiative. Wilson will work in conjunction with the coaching staff and faculty to take both a global and individualized view of the entire KMS experience for all the athletes he works with. Wilson spent two days on campus this May where he met with faculty members, participated in coaches meetings, and spent time getting to know the athletes he will be working with.

“Martin was really easy to have a conversation with and I loved that he talked about how he wants to develop not just great athletes, but also strong women,” shared U19 Alpine athlete Izzy Jenne. “He told us that he is very honest when coaching and he believes in hard work, so I know we’re all going to be pushed this season. I’m really looking forward to working with him.”

The entire KMS community extends a warm welcome to Martin Wilson and is excited about the 2018-2019 season.

Release courtesy of Killington Mountain School.