Black Mountain of Maine, long recognized as a leader in Nordic ski racing, is bringing in some well-known alpine  talent with the hope of bolstering its presence in the Maine alpine skiing community while also attempting to improve participation in alpine racing among the youth within the mountain’s reach.

Black Mountain has hired Mark Thibodeau as its alpine racing director. Thibodeau was the race program director at Mt. Abram Ski Resort for the past nine years, and was the Leavitt High School coach for 12 years. He is a USSA level I coach and USSA official. Over the past several seasons, many of the athletes with which he has worked at Mt. Abram have won high school and regional ski titles.

“Just moving it on down the road,” Thibodeau said. “I look at Black Mountain as kind of a diamond in the rough when it comes to alpine racing. Some of my good buddies in the industry think I’m nuts for doing this, but it’s a challenge, and that’s the part I like about it.”

And Thibodeau isn’t making the transition to Black Mountain alone. Two seasons ago he introduced a unique, five-event high school race series that typically drew 150 competitors on a Friday night. He’s also formed a partnership with former national team coach Tim LaVallee and three-time Olympian Julie Parisien, who formed “Club de Ski LaVallee/Parisien” last fall. LaVallee and Parisien will join Thibodeau at the new venture at Black Mountain.

“This is an unbelievable opportunity for Black Mountain, our youth programs, and all the families that ski at Black Mountain,” Roger Arsenault, chairman of the Black Mountain Board of Directors, said in a news release. “The best possible coaching team coupled with 100 percent support of the mountain staff and the operating board will make for an unbelievable experience for skiers who want to take their ability to the next level.”

Thibodeau, LaVallee and Parisien are not leaving Mt. Abram high and dry. They’ve allowed the resort to maintain the trademark of “Le Club de Sport,” and have given their blessing to the mountain’s ambitions to continue its ski racing program.

“I’ve been there for about nine or 10 years now,” Thibodeau said. “When the new owners took over, I was really able to blow things up and get things going there. The support they gave us was tremendous. I don’t know what their plans are, but we’ve left them with a good base of kids in the program, and a good outline. When we started a few years ago, we had five kids around a picnic table. Last year, we had more than 60 skiers.”

Thibodeau said he hopes he can build the same success at Black Mountain, while also expanding the racing series he helped start at Mt. Abram.

“Julie and I did a fitness training a week ago,” Thibodeau said. “We had 12 kids show up, mostly middle schoolers. But that’s how it begins. We’re working on putting together a presentation, and Julie is going to go to area elementary schools and just talk about outdoor activities and our program and try to generate some interest.”

Thibideau said he also hopes the race program begins to flourish at other areas, while continuing at Mt. Abram.

“The goal was always to have more mountains involved, and get more people involved,” Thibodeau said. “We’ve talked to some other areas about it, and the reception has been pretty positive.”

For now, though, it’s one step at a time.

“We already had 12 kids in our first try, and that’s at least two picnic tables’ worth,” Thibodeau said. “We want to build a program starting with younger kids, and hopefully we can build them, retain them and go from there.

“It’s all just one step at a time.”