Laramie is Ready to ‘Go For It’ at State Alpine Skiing

The 2018 Wyoming State Alpine Skiing Championships are Friday and Saturday at Snow King Resort in Jackson.

Laramie High School will be one of six teams in competition. The skiing begins Friday at 11 a.m. with slalom racing. Saturday features giant slalom racing also with an 11 a.m. start. Other schools that will be competing include Jackson Hole, Cody, Pinedale, Kelly Walsh and Natrona County.

The Lady Plainsmen placed fifth at last year’s championships, while the Plainsmen took sixth.

Laramie head coach Jasen Mitchell said he hopes the squads are ready for the biggest weekend of the season.

“I think they’ve worked really hard. They’ve got great attitudes. We worked really hard at practice over the last week and worked on some things that we haven’t been able to do. Yeah, I think they’re excited, and I guess we’ll see what happens.”

Lena Weinstein, Brooklyn Pratt and Jordan DeYoung will lead the way for the Laramie girls’ team, while Nick Fadial leads the Laramie boy’s.

Competing at Snow King Resort is different according to Laramie coach Jasen Mitchell. He says the snow conditions in Jackson are unlike anywhere else around the state.

“They pack their snow down. They have a lot of races up there, USSA races, almost every weekend, which makes the snow real hard and icy. That’s really good conditions for that style of racing, but for the high school kid it’s a little bit difficult.”

Mitchell says they’ll have to adjust on the course to turning earlier and not holding edges too long. He also mentioned that he feels good about their prospects.

“One thing about ski racing though is if you go for it, and you wreck, you’re out of the race. Our philosophy is ‘go for it,’ have fun, try to not be timid and just finish. We want you to go for it.”

Mitchell said a goal is to see three girls in the top 10, while he thinks Fadial could be around fifth or sixth in the boys division.

“It all comes down to who wants, and who can finish.”