The toughest competition now for the Carson High skiing program comes before the season even begins.
With the growing popularity of snow sports like snowboarding, Carson coach Jack Reinhardt has seen the numbers on his ski teams dwindle over the past few years. For the first time in over 20 years since he's been coaching at Carson, Reinhardt will not be able to field a full roster of 10 skiers on this season's girls team.
So it figures, the Carson girls will be hard pressed to match last year's performance in which they placed second in the state to Galena.
Carson has a total of 30 skiers out for this year's boys and girls teams. In the past, Reinhardt would have 60-70 skiers come out from the program, forcing him to cut down to 35 skiers.
"Snowboarding has made a tremendous inroad and interest has declined," Reinhardt said. "The team is really small."
That's not to say that Carson still doesn't have plenty of talented skiers, particularly on the boys team. The Senators have just eight skiers on the girls team and Reinhardt has referred to this as a rebuilding year. But the Senator girls have several returners from last year's team and should still be competitive.
The outlook looks stronger for the boys, who have 22 skiers. "Our boys team is much more competitive," Reinhardt said. "We've got a lot of depth on the boys."
The future also looks bright for the program, which just has a few seniors in this year's program.
Among the leaders for the boys is top Junior Olympic skier Danny Rotter, a junior, who is the defending state champion for Carson in the slalom. Two other top skiers should be junior Brett Andersen and sophomore Devon Anderson. "They're both really hit skiers," Reinhardt said.
Other top skiers should include junior James Rivas and seniors Vance Harper, Dutney Block, Tim Suchland and John Whitworth.
Rounding out the lineup for the girls are seniors Chelsea Anderson and Katie Perdomo, Erica McAfee, sophomores Sydney Parker and Greta Schnaser and freshmen Dusty Brower, Natalie Brazeau and Jessie Clemmensen.
Carson will take advantage of the excellent skiing conditions brought on by the recent storms by taking part in a two-day camp at Sky Tavern, beginning today. The Senators will open the season on Jan. 20 at Mt. Rose.
Galena, McQueen and Reno are again expected to be among the top programs in the state in which skiers compete in the slalom and giant slalom.
Carson's boys and girls teams should have an excellent chance at defending their state academic titles.
"These guys are off the charts in grades," Reinhardt said. "Most of these kids on the ski team are in the honor society and in student government. They're high caliber kids.
"You don't have to worry about eligibility problems. The reason why they miss a race is because they don't want to miss a calculus."
Charles Whisnand is the Nevada Appeal Sports Editor.
