Dartmouth skiing is preparing to take the national stage as the program hosts the NCAA Skiing Championships next month for the first time since 2003.
“It’s been 22 years. And while that was a great event, since then, the standards have changed— expectations are higher,” says Cami Thompson, director of skiing and women’s Nordic head coach. “So the work we’ve been able to do at both the Skiway and at Oak Hill have been phenomenal.”
This year’s national championship—which is expected to draw ski fans, including alumni, from around New England—will kick off with an opening ceremony on Tuesday, March 4, and continue over four days.
Details are still coming together, but the plan for the opening ceremony includes an athlete parade around the Green with a band and team introductions on the new Collis steps.
Racing will begin with the giant slalom on Wednesday, March 5, at the Dartmouth Skiway. Thursday will feature the men’s and women’s 7.5K Classic individual start at Oak Hill Outdoor Center. Alpine racing will conclude on Friday with the slalom at the Skiway and the 2025 National Championships will conclude on Saturday with the 20K Freestyle mass start at Oak Hill.
Thompson says she is looking forward to showcasing Dartmouth skiing.
“I’m so proud of all we’ve been able to accomplish with the program in the last couple of decades, but also the legacy of the last century,” Thompson says. “I think having so many talented athletes engaged in the sport, both as competitors, but in a number of other areas, is an amazing legacy. I think it’s easy to be really proud of being part of this program.”
To cite just a few accomplishments of Dartmouth skiers, more members of the United States Ski Hall of Fame have been associated with Dartmouth and Hanover than any other institution or location, and since the founding of the Winter Olympic Games in 1924, the string of participation by Dartmouth students and alumni has been unbroken.
Thompson says she is cautiously optimistic about Dartmouth’s chances for top finishes in this year’s national competition.
“This is probably the best start of the season we’ve had in a few years. We’re strong in all four disciplines (men’s and women’s Alpine and Nordic skiing), and that’s what it takes to win the championships,” she says.
Dartmouth is coming off of a fourth place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championship in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with 399 total points, the team’s highest finish since 2019.
In 2024 John Steel Hagenbuch ’25 finished the men’s 7.5K freestyle 11 seconds ahead of anyone else, posting a time of 19:09.2. He became the first Big Green skier to win a national championship since Tanguy Nef ’20 won the men’s giant slalom and Katharine Ogden ’21 captured the women’s 15k classic in 2019.
Last year Jasmine Drolet ’25 won the Big Green’s second individual national championship in the women’s 20K classic, Drolet made a late charge, coming back from fourth place with less than 1,000 meters to go to capture a national title.
Trail improvements
Dartmouth Skiway General Manager Mark Adamczyk says the Skiway is ready for the national spotlight, particularly after completing work this summer to add the new slalom run, Lyme Drop, to the Holts Ledge ski trails system.
Holts was the site of the original Skiway racing run in the 1950s and 1960s.
“It finishes at a great vantage point from the lodge. It’s pretty exciting out here when we have crowds of spectators and there is such a fantastic vantage point for them,” says Adamczyk.
Dartmouth has been hugely influential in developing the downhill skiing industry as we know it, and the Skiway is a key piece of that legacy, Adamczyk says.
“We’re just trying to do our best to support and preserve and further the legacy of not just Dartmouth racing, but Dartmouth’s contribution to the ski industry,” he says. “I think this place is so special, it’s just the inspiration and the jumping off point for so many people who fall in love with this sport.”
Thompson says the work on cross country trails at Oak Hill, where over the last two years, snowmaking equipment, lights, new buildings, and paved parking lots have been added, secure its place as a world class facility. Like at the Skiway, the improvements at Oak Hill will also provide a great venue for spectators at the competition, she says.
“I think this facility is going to make a difference going forward, both for recruiting for our team, but also just for the general community and people who love the sport,” Thompson says.
Watching the action
There will be shuttles available on campus to transport fans to the Dartmouth Skiway and Oak Hill. For alpine events on Wednesday and Friday, shuttles will run constantly from the Dewey Lot to the Dartmouth Skiway.
For Nordic events on Thursday, a shuttle will be running from the Dewey Lot to Garipay to Oak Hill. On Saturday, there will be an additional stop as the shuttle will run from Dewey to Garipay to the Dartmouth Daycare before heading to Oak Hill.
Alumni activities around the NCAAs include a tailgate party for alumni and families at Oak Hill on Saturday, March 8.
Dartmouth Athletics writer Rebecca Osowski contributed to this report.
