On Thursday, September 12th, the alpine ski team departed Northwood to begin their long travel day to Chile. The team left the school at 6 am, and arrived in Valle Nevado, Chile, around 12:30 PM on the 13th. Despite long and tiring traveling conditions, the skiers managed to find time in the airport for their academics. The team had a 5-hour layover in Atlanta, Georgia, and took advantage of this time to get schoolwork out of the way.
When the skiers arrived in Valle Nevado on the 13th, after unpacking the bus, they pulled their books out. The team couldn’t check into their hotel rooms for a few hours, and they used the extra time to continue schoolwork.
For the duration of the camp, the ski team will have 2–3-hour study halls every day after training. On the first day on snow, the skiers trained from 7am to 2pm with a break for lunch. The skiers worked on schoolwork in the afternoon. For most days of the camp, the team will have study hall from 1pm-3pm, and dryland workouts afterwards. To perform at their best, the skiers also tune their skis every day after skiing, which can take up to an hour, depending on that day’s snow conditions. Despite such busy days, the ski team always finds time for their studies. Cara Dempsey ‘25 comments: “I appreciate having structured times for studying because my academics are very important to me.” Raychel West, who is traveling with the team to manage study halls, speaks with every student at the beginning of study hall to give them their assignments. She contacts everyone’s teachers during the camp to administer tests. She says that “study hall has been challenging so far because the Wi-Fi is very spotty at our hotel.” During bad Wi-Fi days she encourages students to work on paper assignments.
