Serving on the ski slopes

Gearing up for the United States Ski and Snowboard Association's (USSA) regional competition today and tomorrow, the Weber State University Ski Club has competed in several races and qualifying events.

After a positive showing at a competition held at the Park City Ski Resort Jan. 25-27, club president Ryan Davies reported each WSU racer placed in one or more individual events and helped to position the entire team to qualify for regional competition.

A university is able to qualify its team for regionals according to the numbers of skiers finishing a race, qualifying, and placing in the competition. WSU's Elizabeth Babilis placed third overall, said Head Coach Bob Skinner, in the Super-G Competition at Park City Ski Resort.

The club also performed well in conference competition hosted by the University of Montana. They attended the race in Jackson Hole, Wyo., at the Snow King Resort. Not knowing the results, but feeling extremely good about the performance, team vice president Nick Babilis said the team decided to start the long trip home even before final results were tallied and awards given out.

Skinner received a phone call, said Davies, just after they pulled into town, from the event's coordinators. They were calling to inform and congratulate him on Weber State's third-place finish in the overall competition. Davies said he felt in a large part it was because of the leadership and fantastic skiing of their male and female team captains, Nick and Elizabeth Babilis.

"Even though we had some crashes throughout the race," Davies said, "the team really pulled together to get into the top-three."

There were multiple schools attending the event with more than 100 individual competitors.

On Feb. 1-3 the club was traveling to an intercollegiate battle with more than 15 other ski clubs when, due to weather conditions, several roads were blocked into Idaho impeding their travel and canceling the competition.

Instead of taking the week off to do homework, the club hit the slopes.

Powder Mountain Ski Resort held a ski event for the Special Olympics and Snowbasin Ski Resort was hosting a Jr. Olympic Qualifying Competition for ages 14-15. The team split up and volunteered their services.

"There was an opportunity to serve locally," Babilis said, "and we thought, 'Why not go out and do some good?' It was really fun and we were able to help them have an enjoyable experience and encourage them to keep racing."

They helped maintain the course, assisted with safety procedures, were the designated runners who would go down the trail just before the race and report the conditions of the run to the event organizers, and served wherever and however they could.

"Even though our competition was canceled, I thought we put our best foot forward and used our time to serve the community," Davies said. "I'm really proud of our team."

Weber State's ski club is made up of close to 100 members who do much more than just ski. Ten to 15 are on the competition team. Thirty to 50 regularly practice and several others help with fundraising, competitions, service projects and activities.

Davies said he feels each plays a crucial role in helping their team become better.

"The ski team is for everyone," said WSU assistant coach Jim Bergseng. "We have all sorts of skill levels and individuals with different life experiences on our team. The ski team offers you opportunities to network and create friendship with other students from the intermountain west. It is an incredible experience."