Featured Image: Ski racer at the 2024 Dartmouth Alpine Carnival. Credit: Stephen Cloutier

Lyme, NH – EISA Alpine ski racing returned to the Dartmouth Skiway this past weekend, starting Thursday with the makeup University of Vermont Giant Slalom race. The hill was bathed in sunshine as warm weather hit New Hampshire. Despite the temps, the snow was superb, and the field of racers charged top to bottom. 

Thursday’s Giant Slalom 

The GS hill of the Skiway is not one of particular difficulty, and it is in this way that the challenge arises. Skiers must attack the short pitch with maximum effort to carry as much speed into a long, flat section as possible. The race is won or lost on the three turns coming off the pitch. However, winning runs must bring constant aggression to the bottom section. 

Allie Resnick (Dartmouth) looked nearly unstoppable at the opening Colby carnival but strived for another win on her home hill. Surprisingly, after the first run, she had work to do as Mika-Anne Reha (Middlebury) and Hanna Larsson-Nathhorst (UVM) finished with faster times. Impressive skiing from Moa Clementson (UVM), a force in Slalom but typically a non-factor in GS, saw her move up to fourth from bib 27. 

The men’s first run was a preview of the day ahead. Diego Holscher of the University of Vermont led the pack, narrowly ahead of his teammates Declan McCormack and Kyle Alexander. Despite the fast first runs, there was little respite for the Catamounts, with incredibly close margins throughout the field. The flip was a mere 1.81 seconds behind the leader, and there was a difference of just 3.37 seconds among the top 60.

The women who completed the top 5 were Mika-Anne, who slipped slightly off the podium to fourth. In fifth was Dartmouth’s own Isabelle Washburn, who, from bib 41, moved up to fifth place on the day. 

As shadows crept onto the track, the men were starting their second run. The pressing question was whether anyone could stop UVM’s dominance. The answer was a resounding no as McCormack, Alexander, and Holscher all landed on the podium. A surprise did come from Simen Strand (Saint Michael’s), whose solid second run moved him up two spots to tie with Holscher for third place. Hunter Brayton (UNH) completed the top 5.

Given its postponement, this race did not count towards the carnival results, but it is good as an NCAA qualifier and for EISA start lists. 

Friday’s Giant Slalom 

The Dartmouth Carnival officially kicked off on Friday with another GS race. Two full-send sets were in store for the field as Bates and host, Dartmouth, set straighter with plenty of distance. The University of Vermont team had the hill down yesterday, but would they be able to repeat their performances? They did not start on a positive note, as the first day’s winner, Hanna Larsson-Nathhorst, skied out. Another contender for the win would also go out as Helene Kristoffersen (Saint Michael’s) skied out in the flatter middle section. Justine Clement (UVM) was ready to step up in her teammate’s absence as she skied to the fastest time on the opening run. 

Hot on Clements’s tail and only one-hundredth of a second back was her teammate, Cydnie Timmermann. The two commanded a large, four-tenths lead over the rest of the field. Hannah Soria (Colby), winner of the Harvard Carnival Giant Slalom, sat in third with Tindra Bergstrand (Plymouth State) and Olivia Holm (Dartmouth) less than a tenth back. 

A minor redress preceded the men’s first run, and then it was the men’s turn. Declan McCormack (UVM) looked unstoppable as he attacked the hill, leaving a trail of broken gates in his wake. On a hill where tenths of a second can make or break days, the athlete was giving his all. McCormack won the run by half a second over Simen Strand (Saint Michael’s) and Nick Unkovskoy (Middlebury). McCormack’s lead on run one was the same as the time between second and tenth place, showing the difficult task of facing the top guys if they wanted to hunt him down. 

On the second run, two amazing runs from the ‘home team,’ Dartmouth, saw Holm and Gwen Wattenmaker move up into the top group. Wattenmaker finished inside the top 10 for the first time this season as she skied to fifth place. Holm attacked the flatter section with aggression to land her first podium in two seasons. For Holm, it was the culmination of hard work made even sweeter by the venue, “It feels great having everything come together on race day, and all the better that I was able to execute on my home hill with friends and family around.” 

The top step on the women’s podium continued to belong to UVM as Timmerman narrowly edged Clement to win the race and deliver valuable points. 

A rock-solid second run from Isac Hedstroem (UNH) saw him catapult five skiers to finish just off the podium in fourth. Similarly, a clean and attacking run from Oliver Morgan (Dartmouth) saw him climb onto the podium. Despite his best efforts, and they were significant, Strand had to settle for second as he was only able to crawl back four-tenths on McCormack, who cruised to victory. 

Slalom 

The warm temperatures became overwhelming on Saturday as the lack of a freeze led to a peely top layer. Salt was thrown, which improved conditions, but it remained softer in sections, providing an extra layer of challenge. 

Declan McCormack, riding high from his results in the previous two days of racing, maintained his elevation on the top pitch and then found the fall line on the open 12-meter flats to win the first run. Hayden Dahl (UNH), who was third in the Harvard Slalom, slotted in right behind McCormack, with his teammate Isac Hedstroem (UNH) in third. UNH looked incredibly well positioned on the men’s side, with their third scorer, Hunter Brayton, in fourth place at the halfway point. 

Allie Resnick (Dartmouth) was gunning for her third win of the season after two disappointing GS races. On run one, she skied well but again found herself in a hole as Cydnie Timmermann (UVM) won the first run. Third place belonged to Mike-Anne Reha (Middlebury), with Timmerman’s teammates Clement and Clementson in fourth and fifth and eager to seal up the carnival for the Catamounts. 

On the second run, Slalom bib leader Dan Gillis (Dartmouth), eager to move back into the conversation after a difficult first run, did just that. He moved up six spots to take third place on the day and hold onto the prestigious red bib. He wasn’t the only one with an impressive second run charge as Harrison Digangi (Colby), Max Martin (Dartmouth), and Olof Hedelin (Dartmouth) registered top 15s on the backs of their run-two efforts. 

The win on the day came as a shock to most. After the first run, Magnus Berge Styren (UVM) was 0.91 behind McCormack, but after a lights-out second run and crashes from Brayton and McCormack, he moved up to the top step on the podium. 

The University of Vermont women’s team was determined to join Styren on the podium, and they wrapped up a dominant weekend of racing with another podium sweep. Timmerman took the win, her first of the season in Slalom, ahead of Clement, who won the second run and has now finished no worse than second in Slalom this season. Third place belonged to Clementson, her first podium of the season. 

Combined with a day of Nordic racing at Oak Hill, the Catamounts look nearly unstoppable as they won seven of eight events contested on the weekend. Hosts Dartmouth sat in a distant second but clear of the University of New Hampshire in third.

A busy stretch of racing continues as teams will trek down to Jiminy Peak for the Williams Carnival on Friday and Saturday before a quick trip down the road to Catamount Mountain for the makeup UVM Slalom. The race on Sunday will be the league’s first time at Catamount and is sure to be a barn burner, with very few athletes having skied at the small Massachusetts mountain.