Frequently Asked Questions for Sunset Ski Team
|
Question |
Answer |
|
What schools are eligible to participate? |
Racers attending the following high schools are eligible to join Sunset ski team: Sunset, Westview, Century, Glencoe, Hillsboro, Liberty. While we train together, racers race for their own high school. |
|
Does my student need to be a ski racer? |
No, a majority of our students have not ski raced before. You will be amazed at how quickly most will get the hang of it. |
|
Does my student need to be a skier? |
Although Ski Team historically has been a no-cut club, our team size has steadily increased, which in turn means we have more racers per coach. We are best staffed to be a ski team (and not a ski bus). Beginners take up a lot of coach time which means less race coaching for everyone else. In general, coaches expect all racers to be able to confidently ski down the Stadium Run at Meadows at a reasonable pace. We are also limited to ~38 racers due to bus capacity. If we have interest in the team that exceeds capacity we may be forced to make cuts in December.
If you are primarily interested in learning how to ski, Meadows offers several area ski buses. They also have a great ski school. |
|
What are the costs? |
Ski team is completely self funded, run by volunteers, and does not receive any funds from anyone other than parents of racers. Here's an approximate breakdown:
|
|
What equipment do I need? |
Required:
Optional:
|
|
Do I need to buy my racer a season pass? |
Yes, you will need an All Access Pass to Meadows. We will train and race there on both weekdays and weekends. You can purchase them here Note: Meadows often stops selling the All Access Pass before the season begins, so please purchase asap! |
|
Are we a non-profit organization? |
Yes, we are a registered 501(c)(3)! Our EIN # is 92-0740023. You can submit volunteer hours to area companies like Intel and Nike that pay $10/hour to Sunset Ski Team, which we could put towards additional team building activities, overnights, gear, scholarships etc. |
|
How do I pay Sunset Ski Team? |
Now that we are a 501c3, we would greatly appreciate it if you would check with your employer if they match funds. Follow these steps before sending in your $$
|
|
Do parents need a season pass? |
No. If you are volunteering on race days and have been assigned a duty that requires you to get on the lift, Metro will provide you with a complimentary ticket for the day of the race. If you volunteer for on-hill training, or want to watch your racer from mid course, you will need to purchase a ticket or season pass. |
|
Are parents required to volunteer?
|
Yes, since Metro League is all volunteer based, the expectation is every family needs to volunteer for a minimum of three races during the season. Ski racing requires a lot of volunteer help to setup and tear down the entire course for every race. There are volunteer positions for both skiers and non-skiers. Volunteers assigned to duties that require skiing will be provided a free lift ticket for the day.
In addition to volunteering at races, there are other opportunities to help with Sunset Ski Team, like hosting pasta dinners/video reviews/ski waxing, providing snacks for race days, bus chaperone for training nights, drive carpool, etc. |
|
Can I volunteer if I don't ski? |
Yes! Every year we have skiing and non-skiing parents. There are lots of ways parents who don't ski can help, and meet their 3 race minimum. Examples:
|
|
What's the typical schedule? |
2024-25 schedule is still under review, will be posted here The ski team starts in November with two months of dryland training at Sunset Athletic Club (SAC), typically 3-4 days/week after school. The number of dryland days per week is reduced when we start on-hill training in January. Seniors will also arrange some fun team building activities. Note: you do not have to be a SAC member for dryland training.
We hold our on-hill training at Mt Hood Meadows. Our first on-hill training day is typically the second weekend of December (snow permitting). We continue on-hill training in Jan and Feb with 1 weeknight per week. Bus transportation is provided for 5-6 mid-week training nights. We try to have an overnight around mid December when we will train on both Saturday and Sunday.
Racing begins the first weekend of January and runs through February. We typically start the season with a fun race (Kelsey's Race), and hold ~6 league races, 3 each for GS and Slalom. If time permits, Metro may hold an optional fun race at the end of the season. No bus transportation for races, but we do send out a carpool spreadsheet. Plan on arriving at the parking lot by 7:15am to find parking. Boys and girls race on the same day and venue. |
|
What's with the Friday races? |
Many of the local resorts have sold 2-3X the season passes they sold pre-Covid. With more skiers, resorts don't want to give up a run to ski teams. Meadows has been wonderfully accommodating and does provide us dedicated space on weekends. Other resorts have not and Metro has had to schedule races on Fridays. We agree, Friday races aren't cool! |
|
What months will my racer be busy with ski team activities? |
Early Nov – mid Dec: dryland training (getting those legs ready for the mountain, conditioning helps improve performance and reduce the risk of injury) Dec – Feb: on-mountain training (held at Meadows) Jan-Feb: on-mountain races (we typically have 6-8 days of races) Mar: Oregon State race (invitation only, we typically send a handful of varsity racers) Rest of year: optional team building events (ex. Mt Hood SOLV cleanup in June, summer race camps, picnics etc). |
|
Where do we typically ski? |
On-hill training for our team is held at Mt Hood Meadows. Races are usually held at Meadows (typically Stadium or Middle Fork runs), Ski Bowl (Reynolds or Bill's Gold), and Timberline (Pucci run). We hope to add an SL race at Cooper Spur someday. |
|
Do I need to register? What's the deadline? |
We need a final headcount by early Nov.
Ski racing requires several forms and waivers for the team, association, league and each venue. If your student decides to join, you'll get an email with a list of all required forms.
Parent volunteers will also need to fill out many of the same forms and waivers. |
|
Any rules to watch out for? |
All forms and waivers for racers and sometimes parents are due before races in order to participate. Due to Metro insurance requirements, racers cannot drive themselves or others to the mountain. Racing itself has its own set of rules which the coaches will teach the racers. |
|
Where can I find the schedule? |
Download the TeamSnap app on your phone. Once you have registered, you should get an invitation to join Sunset Ski team. If you didn't get an invite, email jegupta@gmail.com |
|
Are racers allowed to drive themselves to local activities? |
Racers may drive themselves and/or carpool to local activities like dryland training, pasta dinners, bus pick-up/drop-off location for weeknight training. |
|
Are racers allowed to drive themselves to the mountain? |
No. Racers cannot drive themselves or be the driver with a parent in the car to any on-mountain activities, like races or weekend training. This is a hard requirement in order to keep our league insurance. Any violations will result in team disqualification. For race days and weekend training we rely on parent carpools to get our racers to the mountain. There will be a spreadsheet where you can sign up to drive and racers can sign up for rides. If everyone takes turns, all racers will get to the mountain. |
|
Where is the carpool spreadsheet? |
Posted here: Link will be sent out via Team Snap prior to overnighter |
|
Where is the signupgenius? |
Will be posted soon. Contains opportunities to volunteer for:
|
|
Where can I find more info? |
Our website: https://sunsetskiteam.org/ Parents & racers: Attend info night on Oct 16 7-9pm @Si Senor Portland Join Sunsetskiteam on Instagram Join Sunset high school ski team on Facebook Ask a coach: kiara.m.green@gmail.com Ask a board member: gogupta@gmail.com Ask a current racer Sunset students: Attend Club Fair Metro league (the league we are part of, one of three in the Portland metro) |
|
What about snowboarders? |
Sunset does not have a snowboard team, skis are the only option for racers. Private snowboarding clubs include Westside Riders Association Parents who snowboard are welcome to volunteer for races, with minor restrictions. For example, course maintenance for SL is limited to skiers.The reason is SL courses often have areas with minimal gradient, and we've had near collisions with snowboarders who couldn't get out of the way of a racer on time. |
|
Can I bring younger kids to races? |
Generally yes. Parent volunteers often bring younger siblings to watch races, or free ski while you're on official duties. |
|
Who do we race against? |
We are part of the Metro ski league http://metroskileague.org/ High schools include most westside Portland metro high schools. Here's the complete list Racers compete in mens and womens divisions, SL (Slalom) and GS (Giant Slalom), with JV (Junior Varsity) and Varsity teams for each group. |
|
Tips on driving to the mountain in the snow? |
ODOT rarely salts our highways, so the roads can be very slippery in the winter. Instead, ODOT often requires traction devices (chains) or snow tires. In deeper snow, you will need a high clearance vehicle with all wheel drive. Seasoned ski team parents suggest a dedicated set of snow tires – studded tires provide the best traction in ice, studless snow tires are good as well and easier on the roads. If you don't want to bother switching out your tires 2x/year, there's a new class of tires called 'all-weather' tires that are snow rated, but can also be used in the summer, and come with a mileage warranty for year-round use. Handy websites:
|
