Julianne Brochu ’25, one of the racers skiing at the NorAm. Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge.
Next week, a handful of FIS women will compete in the NorAm Cup Finals at Burke Mountain. NorAm races are one level below a World Cup, making them highly competitive. As NorAm Finals, these races are especially intense. The FIS women participating are Sydney Kuder ‘25, Arielle Haccoun-Choquette ‘25, Leanne Aubut-Laurin ‘26, and Julianne Brochu ’25.
Racing in NorAms is a pivotal step in a skier’s career. They provide exposure to a higher level of racing, offer low points to score, and winning a season’s NorAm Cup guarantees a World Cup start for the following season. All of these are reasons the FIS girls are super excited to race at Burke!
“I’m super excited to race with good competitors that I don’t usually race against. I’m also excited for the experience of racing at that level,” said Leanne Aubut-Laurin ‘26.
“I’m going there to have fun and experience a new type of race. I’m really excited for this next level of competition,” adds Arielle Haccoun-Choquette ‘25.
Though racing at NorAms is a great experience, they don’t come without challenges. First off, because of the high level of competition, starting positions are usually high. Unless your FIS points are in the 20s or 30s, which none of the FIS women at Northwood have, you should expect your start to be in the 50s and 60s. This brings challenges with course deterioration. Also, at the NorAm level, only the top 60 finishers in the first run are afforded a second run. Meaning, if you finish first run outside of the top 60, you have to sit in the lodge or go home. This is challenging because having two runs in a race offers practice racing, even if you don’t have the best results. Although there are challenges to NorAm racing, the Northwood FIS women are very excited to race at the NorAms at Burke. Tune into the FIS app and live timing to watch their results!
