2026 Alpine Season Preview

By: Caleb Horsch

The 2026 collegiate season will kick off on Friday with the 13 teams of the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association heading to Sugarloaf Mountain for the Colby Carnival. After a season of dramatic racing that saw Dartmouth come oh-so-close to an NCAA Championship after a dominating regular season, the action promises to be ever-present again.

This season sees the schools head to five different states across six weekends of racing followed by a trip west to Bozeman, Montana for the NCAA Championships at Bridger Bowl. 

Will Dartmouth continue its run of dominance? Will the University of Vermont answer back? Or will a new team emerge at the top of the pack? This season will be filled with intriguing storylines.

Read on to see the athletes to watch out for across all 13 teams when racing gets underway this Friday at Sugarloaf Mountain.

Bates

Best Returners: Juliette Hoder (Jr.) and Evan Gramas (So.)

Newcomer to watch: William Hostetter

The Bobcats graduated a large and talented senior class including Nic Hotermans and Kyle Kagan, but head coach Kurt Simard reloaded on talent bringing in eight first-years. On the men’s side, William Hostetter and Kyle Robin each enter with points below 50 in both events. Also joining the men’s squad is Maine native and CVA alum Caleb Stefanakos and Alex Roguet. For the women, Regan Clute joins the squad with 41 Slalom points and Sydney Kuder enters with 42 GS points. Caroline Johnson and Meadow Brunelli also join the team looking to support the Bobcats. Juliette Hoder returns and will without a doubt be a threat in Slalom. Hoder finished in the top 20 in all but two Slalom races last year and qualified for the NCAA Championships two seasons ago, she will look to return to NCAAs in her junior season.

Boston College

Best Returners: Jasmine Whittaker (Sr.) and Bode Flanigan (Sr.)

Newcomer to watch: Colin Hanna

Bode Flanigan etched his name in the Boston College history books last season with a third-place finish in the Slalom at NCAA Championships. It capped a superb season of results where he finished outside the top 10 only once in Slalom. Jasmine Whittaker will lead the women’s side; her best finish last season came in the Dartmouth Slalom where she placed eighth. The Eagles will add a few talented skiers to the mix including Sun Valley’s Colin Hanna who is coming off a two-year run on the US Ski Team

Colby

Best Returners: Carissa Cassidy (Sr.) and Harrison Digangi (Jr.)

Newcomer to watch: Kate McKenney

Carissa Cassidy was on a mission last season, her late season form rivaled some of the best EISA skiers in history winning the final three Slalom races of the season and earning the Slalom title. She carried that speed to the NCAA Championships at Dartmouth winning the first run before a small mistake on run two saw her slip to ninth but still earn her second-team All-American honors. She is joined by returners Althea Noyes who has flashed impressive early season speed, Finn Boissonnault who is returning from an injury and Charlotte Lambert. On the men’s side, Harrison Digangi will return following a superb season capped with a first-team All-American finish at the NCAA Championships. Topher Davenport flashed impressive speed in Slalom last year and will look to capitalize in his senior season. The Mules also add six new skiers headlined by Kate McKenney on the women’s side and Brady Malboeuf on the men’s side.

Colby-Sawyer

Best Returners: Jacklyn Tracy (Sr.) Jackson Musial (Sr.)

Newcomer to watch: Sam Clausen

Jackson Musial was an electrifying presence in Slalom last season for the Chargers. He finished in the top 30 three times and will look to find another gear in his senior season. He is joined by a strong first-year class of six featuring Sam Clausen, Campbell Prichard and the team’s first European athlete in recent memory in Niklas Ramno from Sweden. Jacklyn Tracy, Maren Elvidge and Molly Dishong return to lead the women’s side.

Dartmouth

Best Returners: Zoe Zimmerman (Sr.) and Benny Brown (Jr.) 

Newcomer to watch: Beatrice May

There are not sufficient adjectives to describe the dominance Dartmouth exhibited last season. The squad won all six carnivals last season and placed third at the NCAA Championships, leading the East in the final race of the season. In addition to adding two first-years in Beatrice May and Sawyer Reed, Dartmouth brought Thomas Woolson back to Hanover as the men’s side's head coach. He will look to hit the ground running and certainly has the talent to do so. Benny Brown was a constant presence in GS, finishing on the podium in all but one race and the lone winner in the discipline outside of Middlebury’s Bradshaw Underhill. Dan Gillis and Oscar Zimmer who both finished in the top 10 in the Slalom and GS standings last season will return for one last ride, as will Zoe Zimmerman who ended the year in second in the Slalom standings. Joining Zimmerman on the women’s side is Emma Resnick, Isabelle Washburn, and Carly Elsinger. All three of whom are threats for the top step of the podium in at least one discipline.

Harvard

Best Returners: Skylar Sheppard (So.) and Duncan Armstrong (So.)

Newcomer to watch: Tristan Leightell

The Crimson look dangerous this season as veteran coach Scott MacPherson brings back the bulk of last season’s squad. Skylar Sheppard returns from injury after a superb start to her collegiate career. In the four Slalom races before injury, Sheppard finished 13th, 8th, 7th, and 6th. Duncan Armstrong and Luke Kearing will be important pieces of the puzzle for the team and they each flashed success last season. Armstrong finished in the top 30 in 10 of 12 races last year, finishing as high as 5th. Kearing found his form at the end of last season and was 8th at the Middlebury Slalom.

Middlebury

Best Returners: Kjersti Moritz (So.) and Nicholas Unkovskoy (Jr.)

Newcomer to watch: Julian Arthur

Middlebury will have a new face at the helm this season, but it won’t be an unfamiliar one. Abigail Copeland is stepping in as the new head coach of the Panthers and her squad is likely to be formidable. Kjersti Moritz, the top American in the Slalom at last year’s Junior World Championships will be balancing the Nor-Am and World Cup schedule again this year but proved last year she will be a threat for the stop step of the podium at any race she participates in. Sophia Tozzi will also be an important piece of the puzzle, as she returns for her senior season after scoring three top 8 finishes last season in Slalom. The men’s side will be without Bradshaw Underhill, winner of both the Slalom and GS titles a season ago, who graduated from Middlebury last Spring. However, Nicholas Unkovskoy will return after finishing on the podium three times last season. A talented first-year class of Julian Arthur, Thomas Carnahan, Alex Huber, Reagan Harrison, and Sophia Palmquist will look to make an immediate impact.

Plymouth State

Best Returners: Megan Heckey (So.) and Alvin Guteland Beiming (So.)

Newcomer to watch: Charles Howe

Trevor Hamilton’s Plymouth State Panthers reloaded on talent over the summer, bringing in a talented class of 13 first-years. Alvin Guteland Beiming returns for his first full season after an injury at the World University Games forced him off snow early in his first season with the Panthers. Joining him on the men’s side are first-years Charles Howe and Emilie Prouvost who will look to make their mark in their first season. On the women’s side Sophomore Megan Heckey brings speed in Slalom with first-years Märta Hahlin and Erin Husken looking to be in the mix. Olivia Andersson will make her mark in GS with Laurence Bouchard and Marlene Sophie Krohn hot on her heels. The Panthers will have talent across the board this year and will look to add experience for their young crew while turning some heads in the process.

Saint Lawrence

Best Returners: Audrey Higgins-Lopez (Sr.) and Alec Nolan (Sr.)

Newcomer to watch: Mollie McTigue

The Saints will look to build on a fantastic 2025 campaign, where Kove Villeneuve’s second place result at the Saint Michael’s carnival scored the best performance by a Saint Lawrence skier since 2019. Villeneuve, who also qualified for the NCAA Championships graduated in the spring but there remains a talented team in Canton. Audrey Higgins-Lopez has flashed podium speed in the past, and the squad will add Mollie McTigue from the Steamboat Mountain School. For the men, Alec Nolan will return for his senior season, Nolan finished in the top 30 four times last season in Slalom. Junior Charlie Welch was in the top 30 five times last year in GS and Kaiden Villeneuve has also popped into the top 30.

Saint Michael’s

Best Returners: Isabella Knutsen (So.) and Aidan Robin (Jr.)

Newcomer to watch: Julianne Brochu

Gus MacLeod’s squad has been a force in the East the last few seasons but this year they will be without the athlete who was at the center of their run, Helene Kristofferson. Still, they possess a loaded roster including two talented first-years in Julianne Brochu from the Northwood School and Louise Hagman. Additionally, Aidan Robin and Lawton Jones were constant presences in the top 30 last season and will look to make the next step. Robin finished as well as sixth last year and Jones finished as well as eleventh. Other key members include Oscar Preisler and Isabella Knutsen who will look to continue the Purple Knights run of strong results.

University of New Hampshire

Best Returners: Hedda Martelleur (Jr.) and Jayden Buckrell (So.)

Newcomer to watch: Celine Sommerová

A superb year last season for the Wildcats was finished with an exclamation mark when Jayden Buckrell became the first National Champion from the East since Mathias Tefre in 2023. Buckrell, who finished second in the Slalom standings behind only Bradshaw Underhill will look to replicate his performance in his second year in Durham. Buckrell is far from the only podium contender on the team, the duo of Hedda Martelleur and Tilde Kandell were both electric last year and will return for the 2026 season. Not to be forgotten are the important pieces of Hunter Roach, Isac Hedström, and Dasha Romanov. Joining the squad is a strong first-year class led by Celine Sommerová from the Czech National team.

University of Vermont

Best Returners: Cydnie Timmerman (Sr.) and Magnus Berge Styren (Jr.)

Newcomer to watch: Kendahl Roufa

An off year only by the Catamounts extremely high expectations is now in the rear-view mirror and the University of Vermont will look to bring home another national championship with their talented roster. The squad loses Justine Clement and Mackenzie Wood who each had multiple podiums last season, but they bring in a talented first-year class and return strong skiers. Cydnie Timmerman was a force in Slalom last year with four finishes in the top 5 and a result no worse than ninth place in the event. Timmerman will be joined by Magnus Berge Styren, a former EISA rookie of the year, who finished with two podiums last season. The first-year class features Kendahl Roufa, who finished third in the Slalom Nor-Am standings in 2024 and Sara Stiel, of Burke Mountain Academy. The German Sebastian Weiss and native-Vermonter Cailin Apple also join the team.

Williams

Best Returners: Chloe Lathrop (Jr.) and Cooper Iacobelli (Sr.)

Newcomer to watch: Ashley Anderson

Amber McHugh’s Williams Ephs bring in a first-year class chock-full of talent. Led by Ashley Anderson from Ski and Snowboard Club Vail and Chas Benyik from the Stratton Mountain School, there will be a host of new names this year in the purple and gold. Cooper Iacobelli, who grabbed four top 30 finishes in GS last year will be a name to watch out for as will Chloe Lathrop who had two top 10 finishes in Slalom and one in GS. Also, important pieces of the puzzle are Taylor Dulaney and Eliza Sullivan. Sullivan was in the top 30 in all but one race last season.