We have been following Maine skiers in competition for many years and snowboarders since that sport arrived on the competitive scene. Maine has had a skier in every Olympics since 1948, and with CVA providing the training, that string looks as if it could continue indefinitely.

The most recent success was Carrabassett’s Ben Morse grabbing a pair of gold medals at the J2 Olympics in Aspen against the top 80 15- to 16-year-olds in the country. The CVA senior won the downhill and slalom and earned a trip to the U.S. National Alpine Championships scheduled for March 24-31 at Alyeska, Alaska.

A veteran, Sam Sweetser will be attending his sixth of the last eight alpine nationals after a strong Nor-Am season.

Sweetser, a CVA grad and a member of the USSA Western Region Elite Ski Team, has accumulated the most Nor-am points of his career and is looking forward to the Nationals at Alyeska, where he had success as a junior racer. Unfortunately, his latest race, a Nor-am super-G at Whiteface in New York, resulted in some bruises. The first two racers made it down the course, but when Sweetser hit a cross road, he was thrown into the air and off line, landing next to a fence which he hit at high speed.

The next racer also hit the fence, and the race was canceled due to what had turned out to be a dangerous course.

Morse and Sweetser are scheduled to compete in all four events, downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom. Two more CVA students qualified at the JOs but will not be making the trip. These kids would have to do it at their own expense and getting to Alaska is a lot of money. The trip could be easier next year as Sugarloaf is in a good position to host the championships once again.

CVA snowboarders are also having success. We know all about Seth Wescott’s Olympic gold medal and other victories, and his unfortunate crash at the Sunday River World Cup.

There are more coming along. Alex Tuttle of Stratton recently raced in the Junior World Snowboardcross championships in Nagano, Japan and finished fourth. Wescott is certainly expected to be in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and some of these younger competitors could have a shot as well.

Dylan Darienzzo was the 2009 Maine Mountain Series Snowboarder of the year and participated in all of the USSA Revolution tour stops this year, and has qualified for the USASA Nationals in April at Copper Mountain in Colorado.

CVA students from away are also benefiting from training at Sugarloaf. Cailey Stewart of Ontario has qualified for the Canadian National Alpine Championships. Headmaster John Ritzo attributes this success to the amount of speed training available to the young skiers at Sugarloaf.

CVA could have a member of the Korean team at the next Olympics. Woo Hyun Cho, a junior at the school, won the Korean mogul championships in his home country.

We have known about Farmington’s Dave DiGravio and his success on the U.S. Freestyle Team. He now has some serious competition from another CVA skier. At the final Nor-Am competition of the year, all Jeremy Cota had to do was stand up in the dual mogul event to earn a spot on the U.S. team. He did a lot more winding up in the final against DiGravio, giving the school a one-two finish.

Try to pronounce this one. Dimitri Gedevanishvili is a native of the Georgian Republic. The CVA sophomore was in the European Youth Winter Olympic Festival as an alpine racer and is now in Russia for a World Cup.

Another CVA grad, Liz Thompson, barely missed All-America designation at the NCAA championships at Sunday River. Her 11th-place finish was one spot out of the top ten that would have earned the designation. But she finishes her career at Bates having qualified for the nationals all four years. Others to watch include snowboarder Juliette Bisson and Auburn skier Casey Myrick.

There are surely even more athletes we could mention, but you get the picture. Maine’s tradition of competing at the highest levels of skiing and snowboarding continues and look for representation in the 2010 Olympics.

Around the slopes

Other news comes in from all over. We received word that business is off as much as six to seven percent at places such as Vail. It may be that the recession has kept some skiers from taking the expensive western trip, but that they are skiing closer to home. Reports I get from ski areas all over New England are that business is as good as, or better than last year.

This past week, I also received word that one community ski area is moving forward with some major expansion plans. The Camden Snowbowl is owned by the town of Camden and is officially part of the Ragged Mountain Recreation Area. The ski area is operated by the town’s Parks and Recreation Department.

A release revealed how the Redevelopment Committee has recommended that Stephen Blatt Architects of Portland to design a new lodge at the Snowbowl. The four-season lodge is the key component of a $6.5-million redevelopment, which will also include new lifts, an expanded beginner area, and additional snowmaking. The town is expected to vote on a $2-million bond issue with the other $4.5-million coming from private donations. The ski area has long been an important part of recreation in Camden. Apparently they are choosing not to participate in the recession.

Dave Irons is a freelance writer who lives in Westbrook.