Alpine D-Team Junior Development Alpine Ski Team
Alpine Ski Racing D-Team Program
The Welch Village D-Team is a ski development program which provides a junior racing venue to develop the skiing skills of each athlete. The program emphasizes safety, enjoyment, fun, and learning at all times. Any skier can join the Welch Village D-Team as long as they fit the age and ability requirements. The D-Team program is available to skiers ages of 7-17. Age eligibility and racing age group is determined by the athletes age on Sept 1st of the current year.
Please read the "Skiing Ability Requirements for D-Team" section below to determine if D-Team is an appropriate program for your son/daughter.
D-Team is an 11-week program, there are 7 practice dates and 4 race days. D-Team athletes race against kids in their same age group only and there are separate girls and boys divisions. Welch Village offers both a Saturday and Sunday program. Saturday program participants can only practice and race on the designated Saturday program practice and race dates and vice versa. There are also additional training programs available on Thursday nights as well as a Christmas Camp in December.
!! Skiing Ability/Experience Requirements for D-Team !!
D-Team is very much a family-friendly, recreational junior race league, that is meant to develop not only racing skills but an all-mountain skiing technique for all kids. With that being said, the program does require some basic ability pre-requisites before registering.
Participants are required to be strong intermediate skiers in order to enroll in the D-Team race program. A strong intermediate skier should be able to ski all blue runs at Welch Village while controlling their speed by making parallel ski turns most of the time. Newer skiers or skiers still using a snow plow most of the time should consider our very popular Carvers program. Carvers is a 6 week ski development program that will prepare skiers for the D-Team program for the following season.
Athletes of all ages will be required to ride the chairlift without an adult at certain times in the D-Team program and coaches will not always ride the lift with the athletes. Kids who are not able to ride the chairlift independently on the first week of practice should not enroll in D-Team. The first two weeks of D-Team are considered a trial period for all first-year D-Team racers. If our coaches and program administrators determine that your son/daughter does not meet our program requirements, they will contact the family and arrange either another lesson program if space is available or possibly a partial credit/refund.*Students who do not meet program requirements may be required to pay added fees in order to process a transfer or a refund. If a skier participates in a D-Team practice or practices, a pro-rated refund or credit transfer will be issued*
Equipment Requirements
All athletes are required to wear helmets & goggles at all times during practices and races. For kids racing in the age 10 group and older, helmet chin bars, pole guards, and shin guards are highly recommended for slalom.
Saturday Program
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Program Fee: $695* (Space is limited; Registration is open starting 9/9/24)
Includes: 7 practice days and 4 race days
Practice days are available on the below Saturdays listed only. Saturday athletes cannot practice on Sundays. Coaching fee does not include the costs of a Welch Village season pass or lift tickets.
2024-25 Saturday Program D-Team Schedule
December 14: Practice 9:30 - 12:30
December 21: Practice 9:30 - 12:30
December 28: Practice 9:30 - 12:30
January 4: Practice 9:30 - 12:30
January 11: Race @ Welch Village
January 18: Practice 9:30 - 12:30
January 25: Race @ Wild Mountain
February 1: Practice 9:30 - 12:30
February 8: Race @ Trollhaugen
February 15: NO PRACTICE
February 22: Practice 9:30 - 12:30
March 1: Race @ Mt. Kato
Questions about the Saturday Alpine D-Team? Contact Head Coach Christine O'Brien HERE
Sunday Program
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Program Fee: $695* - (Space is limited; Registration is open starting 9/9/24)Includes: 11 weeks of coaching, 7 practice days and 4 race days
Practice days are available on the listed Sundays below only. Sunday athletes cannot practice in the Saturday program. Coaching fee does not include the costs of a Welch Village season pass or lift tickets for away races.
2024-25 Sunday Program D-Team Schedule
December 15: Practice 12:30 - 3:30
December 22: Practice 12:30 - 3:30
December 29: Practice 12:30 - 3:30
January 5: Practice 12:30 - 3:30
January 12: Race @ Welch Village
January 19: Practice 12:30 - 3:30
January 26: Race @ Wild Mountain
February 2: Practice 12:30 - 3:30
February 9: Race @ Trollhaugen
February 16: Practice 12:30 - 3:30
February 23: Race at Buck Hill
Questions about the Sunday Alpine D-Team? Contact Todd Borgeson at todd@welchvillage.com
Advanced Race Training Programs
Thursday Night Extra Training Program (Space is limited; Registration is open starting 9/9/24)
A 6-week advanced training program for current Saturday or Sunday Welch Village D-Team members ONLY. This is a fast-paced and higher level training program geared towards more experienced race athletes but this program is open to all ages. Athletes will be divided into smaller coaching groups each evening by age & experience level. Training will include a combination of free-skiing drills, gate section drills, full gate training, and occasional timed training runs.*All athletes meet in front of the SkiLink Learning Center ready to ski at 6:30pm each night.
Program Fee - $175*
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- Training Dates: 6 consecutive Thursday nights starting January 9th and ending February 13th- Training Time: 6:30-8:30pm
If you have a question about Thursday night training, please contact Peter Zotalis
Christmas Race Camp (Space is limited; Registration is open starting 9/9/24)
A 2-day Race Camp open to all Welch Village D-Team and Race Academy Athletes that will feature combination of free-skiing drills, gate drills & full gate training. This camp will include both slalom and giant slalom training options. All athletes will also receive live timing during their training as well as video analysis. The Christmas Camp is a great and fun way for race athletes to get valuable training time early in the race season. Slalom training will take place on Sweeny and will feature Welch Village's new high speed tow rope.
- Training Dates: Thursday, Dec. 26 and Friday, Dec. 27
- Training Time: 9am-12pm
- All athletes need to be booted up and ready to meet coaches each morning at 9am in front of the SkiLink Learning Center building
- Camp Fee: $150* (Space is Limited)
