Every winter, many GHS students spend a lot of their after school evenings and weekends out at Chestnut Mountain. Many skiers and snowboarders like to take their skills out to the Farside Park where they do many tricks off of boxes and rails. In addition to the popularity of free skiing, some fellow GHS students have dedicated their time to being a part of the Chestnut Mountain Race Team. During practices, the racers prepare for upcoming races doing drills, and going through Giant Slalom and Slalom courses. For the many years that the ski team has been around, it teaches skiers to not only improve, but to have a lifelong passion for skiing. “The ski team has really changed the way I think about skiing,” said Ben Miller ‘25.

The weekend of Jan. 8 and Jan. 9 kicked off the beginning of the ski races for the Chestnut Mountain Race Team. On Saturday, the GS racing took place. On that Sunday is when the Slalom racing took place. There are a lot of really good skiers from other teams that were ready to give the Chestnut racers a run for their money. Over the years, Chestnut’s biggest competition has been the racers from Cascade Mountain, out of Portage, Wisconsin, and Sundown Mountain, out of Dubuque, Iowa. At the end of each award ceremony, the top three teams get awarded based on the amount of points each team has. It has almost always been Cascade, Chestnut, and Sundown that get those awards. “I had a lot of fun racing over the weekend and I was able to get a good personal score for my third race,” said Carly Miller ‘25. 

Ski racing is a lot harder than it looks, and it takes a lot of practice to complete a perfect run through a GS or Slalom course. GS is short for Giant Slalom, where racers have a lot more time to turn and it gives them time to think a few gates ahead. Out of the two disciplines for the Chestnut skiers, Slalom tends to be the more challenging of the two. Slalom is very technical and short and you have to think quickly before you make your next move in the course. “I love both GS and Slalom, but I have always enjoyed the build up of adrenaline that I get during Slalom,” said Scott Dodds ‘22. 

For any sport, it is important to have a goal in mind that you would like to achieve. This goal should be something that will be challenging to accomplish, but if it is worked hard at, there should be no problem achieving it. In previous years, racers have had goals such as getting faster, getting more consistent in a certain discipline, or working on their technique. “My goal for my senior season is to make the best of it, no matter what happens at the races,” said Kiera Lyden ‘22. 

This year, the team will be saying goodbye to three seniors all from Galena High School. Those three seniors are Scott Dodds, Ava Miller, and Kiera Lyden. All three skiers are incredibly talented and have been working hard for many years to get to where they are now. “One of my favorite memories from over the years is hanging out at the bottom of the hill with all of my friends in between races and getting to travel with them all weekend,” said A. Miller ‘22. The Chestnut Mountain Race Team certainly has a lot of talent, but it will never be the same without the dedication of these three senior racers.