One bad crash. Season ending. Career-ending. Every alpine skier’s nightmare. There are around 3550 FIS licensed athletes in the United States. At Holderness, there are around 36 FIS racers and 55 Eastern Alpine athletes, all needing to be in top shape to compete at this high level. 

I knew absolutely nothing about ski racing when I took my job as an athletic trainer at Holderness. There was an extreme learning curve for me about the terminology, equipment, disciplines, and the determination to succeed. Basically, everything that it means to be a ski racer, I had to learn. At first, I had no idea the amount of time, effort, and money that it took to get to FIS-level skiing (I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what FIS meant until last year). 

The Mentor Who Lit the Path

My passion for athletic training began in 2014, my freshman year at Medfield High School in Massachusetts. I was mentored by former athletic training legend Maria Hutsick. Maria was a fiery, smart, and well-loved person. She had a truly exquisite resume: Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey athletic trainer, first female head athletic trainer at Boston University, athletic trainer at Yale University, the list goes on.

Maria will forever be the best mentor of my lifetime, because her influence spread far outside of my classroom knowledge. She had a fervent belief in her students that was contagious, and her belief in me has taken me all over the country to pursue the career I am passionate about. Maria passed in October of 2023, just one year and two months into my brand-new career as a certified athletic trainer. It was hard to find my own path without the crutch of my mentor, but luckily, I found my home quite easily at Holderness. 

Prior to Holderness, I received my undergraduate education from Ithaca College, where I had clinical rotations in wrestling, volleyball, and softball. I spent my senior year working with the Cornell Women’s Ice Hockey team. I had a variety of experiences with high-level athletes, including the Division III National Championships in Wrestling in 2019, the Division III National Championships in Gymnastics in 2021, and traveling with the Cornell Women’s Hockey team to the ECAC quarterfinals in 2022. 

When I began looking for graduate school opportunities, I applied for the Graduate Assistant athletic training position through Plymouth State University. It was perfect, I would be closer to my parents, I enjoy the outdoors, and most importantly, I could get back into skiing. A sport that I loved as a child, but never took seriously. When presented with the opportunity to work at Holderness, I called Maria and asked her what to do. 

A Crash Course in Ski Racing

Nothing prepared me for the whirlwind that was my first year of working with snow sports at Holderness. Growing up, my sport was ice hockey. I loved hockey, but skiing was a fun activity for me when I had the opportunity to go. I never dreamed of working at a place where students actually skied for their main sport. 

Deep cuts from tuning requiring stitches, concussions with loss of consciousness (LOC), torn ACLs, tibial fractures, frostbite, GS back, and “boot bang” were among just a few of the injuries I became well-versed in during my first year at Holderness. I quickly began realizing how knowledgeable the student athletes were about their sport (and common injuries associated with it).

Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization tools.
Caroline is Graston Technique certified.

I asked questions. So many questions. What is slalom? How many different skis do you have? How much do the boots cost? Wait, there are two different pieces to your boot? Can I take my boot apart? Oh, my boots are different… got it. What is the difference between tuning and waxing? Oh sorry, that was a dumb question. Why do you wear those funny-looking shorts? You have two different helmets? 

I felt annoying, but Maria taught me that to be a good athletic trainer, you have to understand the sport you are working with, and you especially need to understand your athletes. I developed a deep respect for the snow sports on campus, and I began to understand the passion that these student athletes have for such a unique opportunity that we provide at Holderness. None of my classmates from Ithaca have ever heard of ski racing, never mind found themselves on a mountain skiing down to an athlete who crashes and providing care on the unruly surface of snow. 

A New Challenge: Copper Mountain

In the spring of 2024, Director of Snow Sports Ben Drummond asked me if I would like to spend two weeks in Colorado with the Eastern Alpine teams. I responded, “Like on the mountain?” He laughed and said, “Yes, Dav. On the mountain. As an AT.” 

The next thing I know I am on a plane heading to Copper Mountain with 25 Eastern Alpine Skiers. I had yet to see ski racing up close. I had only heard about it and seen videos from the students. When I arrived at the hotel, I unpacked my AT kit, my cupping set, Graston tools, bands and stretching materials. The next morning, my alarm went off at 5 am to head over to the mountain. 

Cupping, or myofascial decompression, is a modality used to treat soft tissue pain (musculotendinous). It is used to lift the myofascial tissue and create a negative pressure, creating an environment which promotes blood flow, increases range of motion, and can be used for tissue or scar adhesions. I like to explain it to the kids as, "when you use cupping, it's like your tight muscles have rice krispies in them, the cups glide over the tissue and pop them, those are the adhesions in the tissue that get broken up in a sense".

I only use it every four to five days because it's pretty aggressive but effective. I only do active or glide cupping techniques where the athletes perform movement and work through the range of motion they are limited in with the cups on and off. First, they perform the range of motion with cups on for 10 reps, then I take them off and they do the same motion for 10 more. They can really see the increase in range immediately after. After I am done, they stretch immediately with the newly playable tissue. I try to limit the amount of ecchymosis (bruising) that occurs. 

I practically fell over when I picked up my first bundle of gates. I don’t know how these coaches do it for almost 150? 200? days a year. Don’t even get me started on the bags of salt. I learned very quickly that this was no joke. 

Holderness School's lane at the Copper Mountain, CO camp this spring.

I spent the camp working with the skiers to keep them healthy and learn how to use their bodies in ways to maintain high levels of core and glute engagement. We worked on mobility of joints, proprioception, and active therapies to maintain the high level of training required during the 14-day camp. I learned how to tape and pad bone spurs, increase dorsiflexion in the athlete’s ankles, and provide relief for the so-called “GS back”, a lower back injury. 

I continue to attend the spring Copper camp, each year learning more about the sport, the athletes, the desire, and the risk. I have gained an immense amount of knowledge and appreciation for alpine skiing, and I sincerely hope that the parents, coaches, and student athletes continue to benefit from the skill set I can provide as an athletic trainer. 

About the Author

Caroline Davenport, MS, N.H. LAT, ATC
Athletic Trainer

Caroline Davenport joined Holderness in 2022. Caroline serves as the Assistant Athletic Trainer. She earned a B.S. from Ithaca College and an M.S. from Plymouth State University. Caroline loves to rock climb, play ice hockey, and spend time with her bunny named Charlie.