Joe Kline / The BulletinSummit High School senior Jared Schiemer, the reigning overall boys state champion, will look to help lead the Storm this season.

Greg Timm says ski racing is making a comeback.

Proof of that might be in the number of kids who turned out for this season’s Bend High alpine ski team — 37, the most in Timm’s 24 years as coach of the Lava Bears.

Many high school boys and girls are getting into ski racing after spending their younger years snowboarding or freeskiing, Timm observes.

“Numbers have increased on the whole (nationwide) in ski racing,” Timm says. “It’s very technical, and it’s a very true form of (competing). It’s not judged. Skiing is inherently about going fast, carving and getting down the hill. Those are the pure aspects of skiing.”

Timm says several of his skiers see ski racing as a new challenge on the slopes.

“I have a number of kids who were snowboarders,” he says. “The free-ride guys are maybe coming for something that will help them improve as a skier. (Ski racing) has more discipline and structure.”

The Lava Bear boys and girls are favored to repeat as season champions in the Oregon School Ski Association, one of two high school alpine ski organizations in the state, but crosstown-rival Summit will once again challenge Bend. (The Central Oregon-based OSSA includes Bend, Mountain View, Summit, Redmond/Ridgeview, Sisters and Lakeview high schools; the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association lists more than 50 member schools in its alpine division for the 2013-14 season.)

OSSA skiers compete in slalom and giant slalom. The first race of the season is set for Jan. 11 at Mt. Bachelor ski area.

Bend returns individual overall state champion Brooke Kelley, a senior, and Elinor Wilson, another senior, is back after sitting out with an injury for most of last season.

The Lava Bear boys have last season’s individual slalom state champion, Keenan Seidel, back as a senior, as well as senior Matthew Scheafer. Seidel won the individual overall state championship as a sophomore in 2012.

“The boys are not quite as experienced (as the girls),” Timm says. “But we only lost (one senior) last year. We’re looking for some seniors to provide leadership. We’re a little bit inexperienced. We’re looking to bring some of the younger guys up and hope they can fill some spots.”

Timm says Summit is “always competition, always a force,” and the Storm bring back last season’s individual overall state champion, Jared Schiemer. Joining Schiemer on a strong Summit boys team is junior Thomas Wimberly.

The Storm girls will look for leadership from a couple of sophomores, Madison Archuleta and Natalie Merrill.

Summit has a total of 20 skiers on the team this season.

“It’s early yet, but so far we look pretty good,” says Summit coach Dave Wallace. “We’ve got some really good skiing in, and I’m encouraged. Right now we’re just really focused on fundamentals and essentials. Bend High has always been really tough, and they’ve got a great coach.”

While Bend and Summit boast strong numbers of alpine skiers, other Central Oregon programs in the OSSA are not as fortunate.

Mountain View brings a team back after not fielding one last season; nine skiers have turned out for the Cougars. Sisters has eight skiers, Ridgeview has five, and Redmond is not fielding a team this season.

“We’re just starting to jell as a team,” says new Mountain View coach Casey Myers. “It’s coming together. It took some serious recruiting. I didn’t get everybody, but (the other OSSA teams) were real happy to hear that Mountain View was back.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0318, mmorical@bendbulletin.com.