It never hurts the ski season to have a solid blanket of snow on the ground in December.
Most ski mountains already sport a base of around 12 inches, with colder temperatures allowing them to stockpile for the season.
Concord Alpine and Nordic are returning strong cores as they hunt for the Division I title. Hopkinton and Kearsarge’s girls’ and boys’ alpine teams should be strong again, respectively. The conditions are ripe for the start of the NHIAA ski season, so here’s a look at the local teams.
Alpine
Concord
Division: I
Coach: George Golden (26th year)
Last year: Boys 15th; Girls D-I runner-up
Returning starters: Boys: Austin Vanacore, Lucas Golden, Eugene Conn. Girls: Mika Taylor, Sophie Linden.
Top newcomers: Zadie Taylor, Taylor Sanborn, Yasemin Tobey, Calen Peace, Emory Dill, Eli Paddleford.
Outlook: “The boys team only had 4 skiers last, with a team of six this year we are now in a better position to improve. The girls were the runners-up last year to Bedford, although we lost four skiers from that team, I still think the girls will be competitive.” – Golden
Teams to beat: Portsmouth, Bedford and Keene.
Bow
Division: II
Coach: Mike Sampo (ninth year)
Last year: Boys 8th; Girls 4th
Returning starters: Boys: Captain- Oliver Weiss, Captain- Asher Wilkening, Cavot Blaney, Bode Totten, Isaac Tobey. Girls: Captain Madelyn Hebert, Captain Sierra Scull, Piper Price, Sophie Brooks, Jules Cusson.
Top newcomers: Boys: Merrick Blaney, Grayson Bechtold, Oran Cook, Ian Fellers, Sam Martin, Logan Parker. Girls: Ashlyn Blethen, Britain Fischer.
Outlook: “We have a small but strong Girls Team that I expect will be very competitive this season.” – Sampo on the girls’ team.
“Overall, we are a very young team and will need to develop some more depth to compete at a high level.” – Sampo on the boys’ team.
Belmont
Division: III
Coach: Kevin Charleston (23rd year)
Last year: Boys 10th; Girls 4th
Returning starters: Henry Ashworth, jr.; Ella Stevens, jr.; Riley DeGange, sr., Meg Soucie, sr.
Bishop Brady
Division: III
Coach: Jay Bird (first year)
Last year: Boys 7th; Girls 5th
Returning starters: Teresa Lavoie 12 (C), Aiden Mitchie 12, Logan Pelletier 12 (C)
Outlook: “Great group of kids this year looking to get out on snow and have fun! top returners are Tess and Logan both senior captains. BBHS ski team is an inclusive team having any skier turn into a racer, we are stoked, focused, and looking forward to hitting the snow next week, December 17th at Bretton Woods.” – Bird
Teams to beat: Hopkinton and Kearsarge.
Hillsboro-Deering
Division: III
Coach: James MacCabe (third year)
Last year: Boys 8th, Girls 9th
Returning starters: Shayne Mills, sr.; Brie Proulx, jr.; Addison Brown.
Hopkinton
Division: III
Coach: Scott Zipke (fourth year)
Last year: Boys D-III runner-up; Girls D-III runner-up
Returning starters: Boys: Coley Wells, jr.; Edward Blagriff, jr.; Chester Behner, so. Girls: Marcella Guadagno, sr.; Lia Chapin, jr., Avery Loew, sr.; Anne Pearce, sr.; Maddie Dwyer, sr..
Top newcomers: Boys: Sam Chapin, fr.; Cooper Loew, fr. Girls: Lillian Firth, fr.; Emma Pelletier, sr.
Outlook: “Came in 2nd last year at the state championship (behind Kearsarge boys) but by just a handful of points. We graduated the Top D3 ski racer in Merrick Chapin but have added a couple freshmen in Sam Chapin and Cooper Loew who are skilled ski racers themselves.” – Zipke on the boys’ team.
“Also came in 2nd last year at the state championship (behind Gilford girls) but also by just a handful of points. On the girls side we graduated zero racers, but added Emma (Concord transfer student who raced at CHS last winter) and Lily (a weekend racer at Cannon Mt).” – Zipke on the girls’ team.
Kearsarge
Division: III
Coach: Jill Firstbrook and Bob Underhill
Last year: Boys D-III champions; Girls 10th
Returning starters: Boys: Zach Hattan (ski meister), Leo Mann, Grayson Wyman.
Top newcomers: Girls: Azelyn Hurley and Carrigan Monnat
Outlook: “Our standouts Leo Mann who made the meet of Champions last year. Grayson Wyman a junior may go fast. Test of the team we will see. Our boys could be fast as a team!
The Girls azelyn Hurley and Carrigan Monnat freshman will be great and pretty fast.” – Firstbrook
Nordic
Concord
Division: I
Coach: Rob Burnham (first year)
Last year: Boys 4th; Girls 4th
Returning starters: Dean Ayotte, sr.; Sebastian Christie, sr.; Elliot Clendenning, sr.; Harper Druzba, sr.; Bella Komorek, sr.; Mahalie Burdette, jr.; Madison Duffy, jr.; Cayden Littlefield, jr.; Benjamin Poole, jr.
Top newcomers: William Annicchiarico, fr.;Katharine Binkoski, fr.; Molly Blanchard, fr.; Katie Komorek, fr.; Mallory Sanford, fr.; Lillian Short, fr.; Vivian Wierwille, fr.
Outlook: “The team’s focus for the competitive season will on cultivating its shared attitudes, beliefs and behaviors to achieve collective success through hard work, continuous learning and teamwork.” – Burnham
Hopkinton
Division: III
Coach: Rob Rothe (ninth year)
Last year: Boys 6th; Girls 5th
Returning starters: Girls: Maisie Emerson, Lia Chapin and Rose Afflerbach. Boys: Andrew Clarner, Miles Van Hoff and Isaac Ohl.
Top newcomers: Girls: Carly Leino and Hannah Clarner.
Outlook: “We are definitely looking at a smaller team this year overall with the girls taking the biggest hit, losing four of their top 6. They are a hard working group though and with the addition of Carly Leino and Hannah Clarner, I can see them progressing throughout the season to be competitive once again. The boys had some attrition as well, but they are a solid bunch and I expect them to continue to gain strength. Led by junior Andrew Clarner, I am eager to see what they can do.” – Rothe