HOUGHTON — Michigan Tech senior Nick Cortes is captain and president of the alpine ski club team at Michigan Tech. The club’s comparison pool is unique, given that they race with both varsity and club ski teams across the Midwest.

“Our club is a club team at (Michigan) Tech, but we compete at more of a varsity level,” he said. “We compete against (other) clubs and varsity teams throughout the Midwest. During our season, we’ll travel to different meets. (We) have to go to so many to qualify for the bigger races and then, at the end of the year, (we have) qualifying races.

“We’ll do a divisional races and then a regional race. That’s usually in Marquette. After that, (racers) can qualify for nationals.We’ve been very close to qualifying for nationals on our men’s side. The nationals are held with various club and varsity teams somewhere usually in the mountains out East or out West.”

“One of our goals in the future is to be a national qualifier,” he said. “Our club is (co-ed) and we practice three times a week with some very good coaches (and) the Mont Ripley Race Team. It’s a lot of fun.”

Cortes reflected on how much the team has grown in his last four years with the club, recruiting many freshman racers who came in with high school or other racing experience.

“I think the one place that we’ve really grown (is that) our club has about doubled in size since I was a freshman,” said Cortes. “There (are) more and more freshman who ski raced in high school or through other ski racing associations. We seem to be attracting more (racers) as freshman, so we have some younger (people) coming up. That’s allowed us to be a little more competitive, though we’ve always had good racers.”

The alpine ski team is affiliated with the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) in conjunction with the Midwest Collegiate Ski Association (MCSA).

“(We are) really based on a team approach, so the more team members (we) have, the more people (we) can pick from to put a good A-team together and use that to try to qualify for other events and come back with results (throughout) the season,” Cortes said. “Certainly I think we’ve headed more towards that direction.”

A team’s success can be created to in part by who leads them. Cortes spoke highly of alpine ski coach Bob Vial.

“We’re very lucky here because not only do we get a lot of snow, but Mont Ripley has produced world class ski racers, and it’s very nice to be able to have a regular practice session with a regular coach,” said Cortes. ” Bob Vial, who’s one of the (most) highly respected ski race coaches in the whole country, runs ski camps in the summer and has been involved with the Olympics. We’re really lucky to have him.”

Another key element to success is the accessibility and environment of the sport. Houghton’s Mont Ripley provides the perfect terrain for the alpine team to practice on, preparing them for conditions throughout the season.

“Mont Ripley is more a sophisticated (training venue), so that’s very good because we get to practice on some steeper, more variable conditions,” Cortes said. “I think that’s ultimately good because we do a lot of traveling to other races. That certainly prepares us for whatever hills we go to because we have such (a) variety at Mont Ripley. As students, we get to take advantage of using the ski hill and having that resource available to us.”

Living in a rural area has also been a positive, at least for Cortes.

“(With) Houghton being so small, it’s very easy for me to talk with the management or talk with the youth development or high school teams, so that kind of culture here in Houghton really is beneficial,” he said. “You need those connections to be able to run a program like this.

“With the snow, I think we can start earlier than most teams. Certainly, I think we practice more than most teams because if (racers) went to some other school, the ski hill may be hours away. For us, it’s right here, so I think that’s very beneficial and has lead to a lot of success.”

The alpine ski team’s 2018-19 season concluded in February and Cortes saw the team make big strides on the slopes this year and hopes that they can keep up the good work in years to come.

“I think it went well,” he said. “I think we’ve shown that we can be competitive. In team results, we were right there. In almost 20 teams we were fourth and some of those teams are varsity teams. Kate Bridges, one of our female athletes, she got second overall (out of) 150 skiers. That’s a very hard thing to do, (so) hats off to her.”

“I think if we just continue this trend of development, I think that would very good,” said Cortes. “We have a very young team and who knows who we’ll bring in next year.

“I think what characterizes (ski racing) is a passion for the sport in wanting to do well and dedication because, at the end of the day, similar programs like this would be run out of an athletic department. I think it’s a testament to us. Not only do we go out and compete in the sport, we’re all doing the busy paperwork and stuff. I think a passion for the sport and dedication describes our club.”