The Wildcat Ski Team Race Program is a non-profit development program for young alpine racers. Our most important goal is to nurture a lifelong enjoyment of the mountains and the sport of skiing in our young athletes. We strive to provide opportunities for each athlete to develop and mature both on and off the slopes. We wish to enable each athlete to reach their potential as a skier, to grow healthy bodies and to enjoy a positive experience of competitive sport.
In addition to developing skills, it is important to teach young athletes the value of hard work, cooperation and team spirit, self-reliance and self-esteem. We stress cooperation and friendship among team members; respect for other teams, mountains, and the environment; and responsible, friendly behavior towards everyone involved in the sport. We believe that every athlete is a winner, and therefore, we teach what that means. Finally, we believe in educating parents of racers about the sport to help them to organize and support their children's efforts, and to run a safe, high quality program for our athletes and for competitors visiting for races at Wildcat
The Wildcat Ski Team program takes place at the Wildcat Mountain Ski Resort located in Pinkham Notch, NH. Although the Club is not affiliated with the Wildcat Mountain Ski Resort, we have a great partnership with the mountain. The Club occupies the “Den” building on the mountain.
Meet our coaches. The Wildcat Ski Team is very fortunate to have a pool of talented professional coaches with many years of experience in skiing, competitive ski racing, and coaching.
Find out more about our program.
WMAEF is a non-profit organization run by the Board of Directors. Meet our Board Members here.
The Wildcat Ski Team program is run December through the end of March each year. Training is provided on the weekends (Sat & Sun), and Christmas and February School Vacation Weeks. The program begins promptly at 9 AM at the “Den” and ends by 3 PM each day. /
Training and race eligibility is broken down into age classes as sanctioned by the USSA and NHARA guidelines. The age class that a child is placed in is based on the child’s age as of December 31st of the year.
| Class | Age | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| U8 | 6 & 7 | 2009 & 2008 |
| U10 | 8 & 9 | 2007 & 2006 |
| U12 | 10 & 11 | 2005 & 2004 |
| U14 | 12 & 13 | 2003 & 2002 |
| U16 | 14 & 15 | 2001 & 2000 |
| U18 | 16 & 17 | 1999 & 1998 |
Junior Racers will train Slalom, Giant Slalom and Super G, with more emphasis on Slalom and Giant Slalom element training. These two events help young racers develop balance, feel and edge control in big and small radius turns as well as respond to changes in terrain and conditions. The ability to ride a fast ski as a mature racer depends on feel and balance, and it is much easier to develop these basic skills at a young age. Junior racers are able to perform big and small radius turns in a relaxed manner and develop good muscle memory patterns.
We begin gate training with short, rhythmical, fall line courses and progress over the season to longer, more difficult courses on steeper slopes. We also use a number of basic elements to develop good body position and discipline. Timed runs and video will also be used to help the athletes understand and evaluate their stance, line and tactics. Free skiing, tree skiing and obstacle courses will be used to challenge balance and agility, and to have fun.
Training focus (SL, GS, etc.) and schedules for each training day is communicated the week prior to the training via the communication email from the President/Head Coach. In addition, training information and last minute changes due to weather or other activities at the mountain that are outside our control is recorded on the ski phone.
“CJ” has a long history in alpine ski racing. A 4-year starter for the University of New Hampshire men’s alpine ski team and team captain his senior year, CJ helped to lead UNH to its best overall team finish at the NCAA Skiing Championships (7th place), which result still holds today. Following college, CJ was a regular on the Masters circuit, racing for more than 15 years. During that time CJ won 4 Sise Cup Overall titles, 10 U.S. Master’s National Championship titles, and was twice being named to the U.S. Alpine Masters Ski Team. CJ and his family joined the Wildcat Ski Team in 2006. Since then, CJ had held numerous leadership roles, including acting as the BWL Divisional Chair, a Board member since 2007, a coach since 2008, and is a past Vice President and President of the Wildcat Ski Team.
Maggie grew up locally in the valley and also has a long history with ski racing. She raced for 13 years for Kennett High School, Cranmore Race Team, MWV Ski Team and Colby-Sawyer College Ski Team (NCAA Div. III). She has also coached for Cranmore Race Team at the U-14 level for three years. Maggie will work closely with Chris Johnson as a U12 coach as well as take on additional Head Coach/Program Director in partnership with Chris.
Tom has been a fixture in the Valley for more than 30 years. He has been the Wildcat director for ten years and came up through the program first as a racer, then a parent, and finally as a coach. Tom has a USSA level 300 certification as well as years of experience working with athletes of all ages, but for the most part his focus has been developing older athletes (U-16's etc). Tom has the ability to communicate with athletes, parents and other coaches, and has a vast technical knowledge of ski racing technique as well as tactics.
At Dartmouth (NCAA Div. I), Matt was captain of the Dartmouth Ski Team and competed in nearly all carnivals, consistently scoring points for the team. As captain, he served as a leader and mentor for his teammates; Prior to Dartmouth, Matt skied on the Quebec Team for two seasons and attended Canadian Ski Team training camps.
Morgan started skiing at Wildcat when she was 3 years old, she ended up joining the Wildcat Ski Team when she was 7 years old and made her way through the program. She then moved on to ski for Mount Washington Valley Ski Team and the Colby-Sawyer College Ski Team. Morgan is currently a senior at Colby-Sawyer with a major in child development and a minor in education. Morgan has received her level 100 coaching certification and while this is her first year with her own group, this is her second year coaching.
I can ski.
I can ski
I can ski.
The organization relies on member involvement for its continued success and requires parents/guardians to help with various activities throughout the season and at scheduled home races