The Program

The Ann Arbor Ski Team participates in a race league run by the Mt. Brighton Interscholastic Ski Association (MBISA). There are 11 high-school teams that participate. The other ten teams are regular varsity and junior varsity teams that are associated with specific schools. The Ann Arbor team is currently a club organization that includes racers from 6 local high schools. The team is open to any family with one or more high school students interested in alpine racing.

Our season covers six weeks in January and early February. During the season, training is Monday and Wednesday, going from 6-8 pm. Races are on Tuesday (slalom) and Thursday (giant slalom) and run from about 4:15 to 6:30.

Preseason training starts with dry land in mid-November. It's 6:00 pm at a location TBD (last year's location seems to be closed to non-university use this year.) Dry Land continues until Mt. Brighton opens; when that happens, we switch to on-snow training 6-8 pm at Mt. Brighton, Mon-Thurs.

The Team

Coaches

Sarah Giles: sgiles3@emich.edu Cell: 734.660.0097
Mike Sayers: msayers@carsim.com Cell: 734.717.7565

Schools

As a club team, our requirements are that the athlete be enrolled in a local high school. We are not an official part of the individual school programs, but compete as equals with the other varisty and J.V. teams in the division. We require the same medical information, but do not require any fees associated with school programs. For example, Ann Arbor Public schools now have a $160 pay-to-play fee; this fee does not apply to racers on the Ann Arbor Ski Team.

In the past few years we have had racers from the following high schools:

  • Gabriel Richard
  • Greenhills
  • Huron
  • Montessori Christian School
  • Saline
  • Pioneer
  • Skyline

Membership in the Team

Membership in the Ski Team is open to any family with one or more high school students interested in alpine racing. Membership requires the following commitments:

  1. A legal guardian for each participating athlete must sign all Release, Liability, and Medical forms that are required by the Ski Team for the current race season. Click here to download the forms for 2012.
  2. Annual dues and fees specified by the Ski Team must be paid for each athlete.
  3. Parents or other family member must be willing to work as volunteers as required by the racing league(s) in which the Ski Team participates.
  4. Athletes and family member must behave consistent with the current Ski Team code of conduct.

Check List for Each Season

To participate in a season of races on the Ann Arbor Ski Team:

  1. The athlete needs a signed medical form used for all high-school athletics. Please contact your school athletic department or PTSO organization, or use the generic HS form included in the ski team download (below).
  2. The athlete needs lift tickets for Mt. Brighton. The best option is usually a restricted racer pass (good for Mon-Thurs, which covers all ski team activities, but not good for Friday or weekends). The restricted racer pass costs $400 and can be purchased at any time. New this year (we think) is a full racer pass: $460. See http://www.mtbrighton.com/member.php for details.
  3. A legal guardian for the participating athlete must sign the Ski Team medical form and waiver by November to ensure a position on the team.
  4. The race team annual fee must be paid and submitted with the release form. The fee for the 2011/2012 season is the same as last year: $450.
  5. If you are new to racing, be aware that the athlete needs a helmet with a face protector (chin guard) prior to any gate training or participation in races at Mt. Brighton. Also, the helmet must have hard plastic at the ears (a racer helmet). Many helmets sold for boarding and free skiing have software material at the ears.

Click here for a PDF file with the forms. It includes two pages from the generic Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), as a back-up in case you don't have the corresponding medical form from your high school. We need a form, but don't care if it's for your specific high school or the general-purpose one in the PDF. Either is OK.

The Club

We are registered as a non-profit Michigan corporation: The Ann Arbor Interscholastic Ski Team (known simply as the Ann Arbor Ski Team). Here is our constitution.

Team Officers

Here are the officers for the 2011 season (all parents of 2011 team athletes):

For more information, please contact Mike Sayers (msayers@carsim.com)