It’s easy to tell when Addie Loomis is totally locked in for competition. If the big ski race is at Berkshire East, she has access to a vehicle. The one with the good base for her playlist. That begins the process. When the race is somewhat close to beginning, the music is now in her ears. She is quiet and not seeking out conversations. Her focus is on the task at hand.
Then it’s time to prepare at the top.
“I kind of keep to myself,” Loomis said. “Before my runs I have a very detailed warm up that I do at the top. I will do squats. Certain movements. To get my body warm and moving. It’s also a way to keep me busy as I am waiting for the start of the race. During that I don’t talk to anyone, unless it’s my coaches.”
When it’s time to click in and finally hit the slopes, she doesn’t miss. The senior has not lost a PVIAC race since she was in eighth grade. For her high school career, she is undefeated on the local league circuit including individuals. The Mohawk Trail Regional girls team has won three of the last four state championships.
“She is by far the most decorated athlete in Franklin County the last four years,” Mohawk coach Brandon Boucias said.
Boucias supervises the weight room at Mohawk. He watches the foundational strength of both the girls and the boys ski teams.
“She is always fully on board,” Boucias said. “You watch her squat; you watch her deadlift. It’s perfect.”
At the beginning of January, Loomis begins her senior season with the Warriors.
There is more to her race rituals. She does one inspection before her race. Never, ever, two inspections. An inspection is when a team can scout the course beforehand.
“If I do two, I will just psyche myself out,” Loomis said. “In my inspection I try to visualize myself skiing the actual course to try and feel it. I only do one inspection. Then I’ll usually do two warm up runs before.”
After her first run she might have a snack and become more social. As a leader of the team, she now has the responsibility to explain the nuances of the course to her teammates in an effort to help them navigate the mountain. Her rituals vary somewhat, depending on if it’s a PVIAC race or a state race.
“When I was younger,” Loomis said, “I would go off on my own and do my own inspection. But now I am growing into this leader position. I have been working on trying to help out the younger girls before the race.”
For Loomis, skiing isn’t just competition. She uses it as an escape. When she is on the slopes, there is nothing else going on in her mind. It’s just her and the mountain.
“It’s like an out for me,” Loomis said. “From anything else that is happening. It’s like its own little world in my head. When I am skiing the only issue in my life is skiing. It gives me an adrenaline rush. Especially the GS (giant slalom) element.”
Early beginnings
Loomis’ history with the sport goes back a long way. While most toddlers are learning through hands-on play, Loomis found herself exploring ski equipment and even beginning to learn the sport. She began the Berkshire East race program around the time when most children are in kindergarten or first grade. Loomis is a confirmed junkie of the sport. In the last couple years, she has started training at a heavier level in the preseason. But during the skiing season you can find her on the hill. She has an intense need to be better. That’s what sets her apart from local competition.
“I am on hill seven days a week,” Loomis said. “It’s hill-time, that’s a big aspect. I am on snow more than other people are. Also, in recent years I have started taking our preseason workouts that we do with the school a little more seriously, so I actually get something out of it. That maybe sets me apart from other people. Skiing is something I want to do well at and when I don’t … I do get upset but it kind of becomes this thing where it’s like ‘OK I did bad here, next time I need to do better’. It’s kind of an expectation in my head. I need to be a certain way in skiing.”
The state competition is at Wachusett Mountain this season. Even with such immense talent, Loomis faces anxiety heading into the bigger races. Especially away from home snow at Berkshire East. Wachusett creates a unique set of challenges for Loomis. The giant slalom at Wachusett is flatter, which is different than what Loomis is used to at local mountains. While there are certain rituals for the physical aspect of the sport, Loomis prepares mentally just as much.
“For me this year it’s states,” Loomis said. “I have a hard time in my mind comprehending that we are at Wachusett this year. So I think mentally getting prepared for that. That’s also a big thing for me the last couple years for me. I get really anxious before big races.”
Dealing with anxiety prior to big races is a clear goal for Loomis in her final season at Mohawk. Loomis dealt with more than people know heading into big races during her career.
“Being able to control that anxiety and leading up to states especially,” Loomis said. “Working on what I can and can’t control mentally. Working on that throughout the year. That was last year for me leading up to states. I did a lot that nobody really knew about. Working on mentality going into it. You can be here, you can ski, you can compete with these girls. Which really helps. Having that same process of just trying to mentally prepare.”
With the challenge of Wachusett looming later in the season, Loomis has clear goals for the entire season.
“I want to win league still,” Loomis said. “Keep that momentum that I have going. With states I want to hopefully, for the slalom at least, win the slalom. For the GS, I consider myself a better a GS skier right now than a slalom skier. But the GS at Wachusett takes some other tactical skiing skills that I haven’t figured out yet.”
The current Mohawk team does not have as much experience as year’s past. Loomis is the only senior along with Teagan Hale from Frontier Regional.
“We are still pretty strong,” Loomis said. “Not as strong as we have been for the last couple years. We are pretty young this year. We start together and we finish together, we are all one unit. Which is nice.”
Loomis rarely partakes in skiing for recreational purposes. Unless she is on vacation in Utah. But during the winter, she is on a mountain. Most high school students look at a snow day as chance to stay home and relax. Loomis bolts to Charlemont.
“If we don’t have school and it’s a snow day,” Loomis said. “I will be at Berkshire. I am there seven days a week in the wintertime. I will always be skiing. You’ll never catch me not skiing in the winter.”
As for ideal conditions on a race day, Loomis likes things a certain way.
“Bluebird day,” Loomis said. “Where it started out cloudy in the morning. Then by ten it would be bluebird, not a cloud in the sky. Low twenties, but sunny.”
The PVIAC schedule begins on Tuesday, January 6.