'Cliffe Skiers Train for Tough Season

With unprecedented depth and more rigorous training than ever before, the Radcliffe Ski Team is heading into what should be a strong season, but a revolution in the circuit over the last year has made the competition tougher than ever.

The Radcliffe racers will get a chance to see just how tough the competition is on February 1 at Tenny Mountain. Captain Katy Moss has been sidelined with back injuries, but should be back in action for the team's intersession training camp and the Tenny tilt.

Juniors Moss and Nicole Bourgois will be pacing a young squad, and the prospects for generating some hot skiers are good.

Won Every Time

While the 'Cliffe squad has won every championship they contested in the last ten years (no team was fielded for the '71-'72 season), the dynasty was built on experienced skiers and weaker competition.

Despite a spectacular increase in preseason interest, the graduation of last years co-captain Kathy Angel and pending graduation of co-captain Debbie McLane has left the squad with a vacuum in the top positions. Temple Mountain ace Lillian Nordica has raced professionally and is not eligible for college competition. Coach Barbara Grant hopes that depth and improvements in the ranks will make up for the lack of a star.

"The team has depth and this is definitely a building year," Grant says. "The girls have been much more serious about their training. They now regard skiing as athletics, not as recreation." But if the 'Cliffe squad is toughening, so are its competitors.

Wellesley and Mount Holyoke have both been forced to drop from the league until more funding becomes available, but Tufts, a school which formerly had no team at all, is reputed to have a squad led by three top-flight racers. Boston University's squad is also unusally strong, and University of Massachusetts, the team that chased the 'Cliffe down to the wire last year, is expected to be as strong as ever.