Green Mountain Valley School (GMVS) is thrilled to share that two more GMVS athletes have been named to national ski teams. Congratulations to Dingyue (Ellen) Zhang (‘23) who has joined the Chinese National Team, and Oscar Preisler (‘22) who has recently been named to the Danish National Alpine Team. These two athletes join Tomás Barata (‘21) and Conrad Sastre (‘21) who were named to the Spanish National Team earlier this spring.
Ellen, hailing from Beijing, China, found a love for skiing at the Wanlong ski resort, just a few hours outside of the expansive city. She was a member of the Vikings Sports Club, and attended Burke Mountain Academy prior to coming to Green Mountain Valley School in August 2019, and has been welcomed as the youngest member training with the Chinese National Team.
“Ellen is a committed and hard-working athlete,” notes Steve Utter, Alpine Program Director and U16 Girls Head Coach. “There is a fluidity in her GS skiing that is fun to watch. She’s come very far in the past few years. Her progress is impressive.”
Oscar, originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, moved to the United States with his family when he was young. He and his family lived in Ramsey, New Jersey and would drive three and a half hours north to Stratton Mountain Resort to enjoy winter on the slopes. While the magic carpet entertained Oscar for hours, it was at Campgaw Mountain, just minutes from his home in New Jersey, where he spent many runs freeskiing and dialing in the fundamentals as he grew older.
Oscar’s interest in GMVS sparked when he became good friends with some GMVS student-athletes. He joined the GMVS community as an 11th grader, which corresponded with his first year racing FIS. While Oscar is humble when asked about his talent, he takes pride in his preparation, work ethic, and ability to perform on command. In Oscar’s words, “I’ve had an incredible time at GMVS. The environment at GMVS tells me one thing; complacency is the downfall of success; always strive to be better and better than those around you.”
Doug Williams, Head U19 Boys’ Coach notes, “Oscar has extremely high goals and has worked very hard to reach those goals. Through his hard work and in all facets of GMVS life, he is now ranked 10th in the world in his age group (2004) in GS and 17th in slalom. To accomplish these results this season is a great start to his journey with GMVS and the Danish Ski Team. We look forward to next season as he moves onto the next level of competition (Nor Ams, Division 1 College Racing).”
Congratulations Oscar, Ellen, Tomás and Conrad we are proud of your accomplishments!