One of the more valuable tools that come across this desk each year is the U.S. Ski Team Media Guide. On the cover, the title is simply 2003-2004 Media Guide, but inside it tells us that the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) is the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding. It is also the designated representative in the U.S. for FIS (International Ski Federation) which means only through USSA can skiers and snowboarders compete in FIS sanctioned events such as World Cup, Europa Cup, World Championships and Olympics.

At one time, individuals could compete in Europa Cup events, but that changed years ago and partly as a result of a Maine skier. In the early seventies, Karl Anderson paid his own way to Europe and in a Volkswagen van followed the Europa Cup tour. His results lowered his points to a level that brought him to the attention of the U.S. Ski Team and as a team member from 1973-1981 he skied in the 1976 and 1980 Olympics, winning the 1978 U.S. DH title. Now skiers can enter these races only under their national team’s sanction.

That, of course, makes the guide even more important. While it doesn’t identify all the young competitors who are working their way up, it does tell us who is currently on the team and gives a lot of information about the individuals. The current guide lists a pair of Maine skiers and four from other states who made their way to the team through Carrabassett Valley Academy. It also fails to list a Maine snowboarder who is actually on the A team.

Everyone knows about Bode Miller, the Franconia skier who moved from CVA to international prominence. And Raymond’s Kirsten Clark has already made some news this year with a bronze medal in a World Cup giant slalom. Her specialty is the speed events where she won a silver in the World Championship Super-G last year and finished second in the DH standings. Her record includes four straight U.S. DH titles.

The others are less well known and three have suffered career interruptions with injuries. Emily Cook of Belmont, Mass., and Brenda Petzold of Andover, Mass., are both freestyle veterans and CVA grads. Cook, in her seventh year on the team, is the 2001 aerials champ and hopes to be skiing season’s end following preseason knee surgery. Petzold is another aerialist with more than a dozen knee surgeries in nine years and is waiting for the okay to ski again following arthroscopic surgery on both knees last spring.

Another Maine skier is Marty Odlin who lists his home town as Sunday River. This mogul specialist is a product of the Sunday River/Gould Academy program, who missed most of last winter following knee reconstruction. He expects to ski again this winter.

Hartford, Conn. snowboarder Jeff Greenwood is another CVA student who has made it to the top. He won the golf medal in the inaugural FIS World Championships GS in 1996. He also has a pair of World Cup victories and four U.S. slalom titles.

While Greenwood is listed as a member of the development team, Seth Wescott is not listed at all. I talked with CVA headmaster John Ritzo and asked what had happened to Wescott. I knew the Farmington snowboarder was near the top of our competitors in boardercross and should have been on the team. Ritzo assured me Wescott was indeed on the A team and was our leading prospect for a medal in his specialty.

Ritzo also mentioned Lance Field, an aerialist who has just been added to the Freestyle C team and another CVA grad, Jenna Durham who is on the Canadian team and had a 14th place finish in the Lake Louise DH.

Missing from this year’s guide are such skiers as Yarmouth’s Sarah Billmeier who won so many Paralympic medals. Billmeier is now attending medical school. There are others who have left the team in recent years and as the season progresses we’ll hear where some of them are and pass it along.

I have these media guides going back over twenty years and they all have Maine skiers listed, often as some of the top competitors. They used to list an alumni made up of all skiers who had made the team. That list is no longer included, but the last time it was in 1998 there were more than 30 Maine skiers listed and more have been added since. That makes the guide more than a current tool. It contains key pieces of Maine’s skiing history.

Dave Irons is a freelance writer who lives inWestbrook.