Alpine skiing preview: Rangeley’s Bristol Quimby’s saves her ferocity for the slopes

Rangeley Lakes Regional School’s Bristol Quimby, front, and other skiers competing in the Mountain Valley Conference Alpine championships slide down a hill at Black Mountain of Maine in Rumford in March. The teammates were waiting for race and mountain officials to figure out how to get them up the mountain after the ski area lost power. The small field of racers was transported on a trail groomer and all eight races were completed. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Rangeley Alpine skiing coach Jeff Hawksley said there are two sides to senior Bristol Quimby — and both of them are positive.

“Bristol is the kindest person you will ever meet and the most ferocious competitor you will ever meet,” Hawksley, who has been coaching Quimby since she was 8 years old, said. “She focuses so hard on her work and what is happening on the hill.”

Hawksley said the Quimby is “extremely coachable.”

“She is just determined all the time and she has no fear and just attacks and goes for it all the time,” he said. “I think that it is a big part of her success, aside from the fact that she is very athletic as well.”

Ferocity may be Quimby trademark on the slopes, but she plans to leave it all there on the mountain this season.

“My goal is just to have fun,” said Quimby, whose sister, Breezy, is a sophomore on this year’s team. “My last year is just put it all out there and have a blast. I will put everything out there. Whatever comes my way, comes my way. I am going to just do what I have always done. It works for me, so I might as well stick with it.”

According Hawksley, Quimby is strongest in the slalom. She won the event at last winter’s Mountain Valley Conference championships.

“She is a good GS skier, but her best event over the past two years has been slalom,” Hawksley said.

Hawksley said that while Rangeley doesn’t designate captains, Quimby “is certainly the team leader.’”

“In terms of the work ethic, in terms of her performances, she sets the example across the board, I think, for our entire team,” he said. “She usually runs one or two for our team in every race, and she will stay in the finish area until every athlete has finished their run. That’s a common Rangeley Laker team thing.”

Quimby and her teammates logged thousands of miles to help the Lakers’ ski program stay alive in between the time Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley closed in 2015 and re-opened in December 2020.

“In 2018 and 2019, we travelled as a team 2,500 miles each year to train,” Hawksley said. “Most of it was not busing. It was mostly families driving these kids. … It was a huge commitment, and honestly the support we got from Titcomb and Black Mountain is what kept our program alive. (Titcomb and Black Mountain) took extremely good care of us, and we wouldn’t be where we are without them.”

Dedicated parents helped shuttle the team to those destinations when school buses weren’t available.

“We travelled a lot,” Quimby said. “We travelled to Black Mountain on the weekends and then Titcomb on weekdays, and it was a lot for the entire team. We did it because we loved the sport. We would not be able to do it without the help of our parents.”

Through it all, Quimby emerged as one of Rangeley’s top downhill skiers despite those long, grueling commutes. All the road trips were worth it for a skier who has been on the slopes since she was 2 years old and has been racing as far back elementary school.

Quimby said she can’t put her finger on her greatest strength on the course.

“I do have a lucky pair of socks that I wear every race,” she said. “That is pretty much it.”

Quimby, who is a top-10 student and also plays soccer, has not yet chosen a college.

“I love soccer, but skiing takes the cake,” said Bristol, who has been accepted to Maine Maritime Academy but is still looking at other schools. She wants to study marine biology.

Quimby also likes what she sees as the Lakers prepare for this season’s competition.

“So far we have been doing awesome,” she said. “We have been training in the gym and we got our first few days of Mountain training the other day, and it was incredible. It is mostly man-made snow, but it is better than nothing. I am grateful for the team I have.

“We are all friends. We all get a long. Everybody supports each other. It is amazing.”

“My list for her is smart, skilled, kind and a ferocious competitor,” Hawksley said. “She is a strong supporter of her teammates and others. She is just a great person.”