Eight-Member Synchronized Ski Team Heads to Aspen for World Championships

TELLURIDE – Telluride’s history is chock-full of stories of early pioneers seeking fortune and glory. As the town prospered there were many mouths to feed. Cattlemen and Sheepherders grazed their livestock locally to meet demands. Competition grew fierce as the herds consumed grasses, and fences were introduced to contain the livestock and honor land entitlements.

Not all the ranchers held the law in regard. In the black of night, in the early hours before sunrise riders, on horseback would quietly move through the ranges, destroying their opposition’s fences. Rarely seen, these figures on horseback became known as the Ghostriders.

In the late 1980s, Telluride Ski School formed a demonstration ski team, naming it Ghostriders in memory of those from before. The team has reformed, since it last competed in the 2007 championships, and is proud to once again represent Telluride.

The Ghostriders bring Telluride’s style of skiing to the table, taking it down the mountain with speed and high energy.

The Telluride Ghostriders Demo team competes next month at the 2010 World Synchronized Skiing Championships, in Aspen, on April 5. Various teams from numerous Snowsport Schools will compete in synchronized formations, each team performing three to four routines. The teams are judged on three components: synchronization, technical difficulty and originality. One routine, School Figure, an internationally recognized standard that must be performed by all, features teams of eight skiers moving through series of short turns and medium carved turns in formation, to create a visual spectacle. What may appear easy requires months of training and coaching. Focusing on timing, turn shape, speed control and memorizing the routines is critical for success.

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