Boys Varsity Skiing
Team Overview
The Frederick Gunn School Varsity Ski Racing Program includes boys and girls teams that practice at Mohawk Mountain in Cornwall, Connecticut. The team is a member of the Brigham Ski League. The Brigham Ski League, named in honor of Bob Brigham’s 40 years of legendary leadership and coaching, is composed of Taft, Suffield, Loomis Chaffee, Ethel Walker, Berkshire, Salisbury, Forman, Cheshire Academy, and Miss Porter’s. Our season consists of a series of Slalom and Giant Slalom Races at several New England venues, including Sundown and Butternut. In mid-February the team competes in the NEPSAC Class C Championships, competing against numerous private schools from around New England. The season concludes with two League Championship Races, the David Rockwell Giant Slalom Championship, and the Carl Williams Slalom Championship followed by the Brigham Ski League Awards Ceremony. The FGS Ski Team also provides racing opportunities at the junior varsity level and recreational skiing.
Our Alumni
Graduates have gone onto to race in college at the team and club level, and perhaps more importantly, apply their skills to a life-long love of the sport of skiing.
Our Philosophy
The Frederick Gunn School Ski Team fosters a love of skiing and ski racing. We accomplish this through a family-like team atmosphere that works to lift each racer up to be their best in competition, as a team member, and as a member of the Gunn community. The cornerstones of scholarship, integrity, respect, and responsibility serve as a foundation for our team values. The team genuinely cares about each other and about working hard in the journey to strengthen skiing skills, the critical components that make up a high-performing skier. This journey includes activities and competencies for skiing skills, technique, tactics, conditioning, sportsmanship, equipment preparation, performance psychology, athlete communication, collaboration, and personal growth. Each member of the team is valued as a person, a student, and an athlete.
Past-Season NEPSAC Champions
Fred Hansson- All-New England Honors for GS and SL at NEPSAC in 2018
Simon Galligani- All-New England Honors for GS at NEPSAC in 2013
Meet the Coaches
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Assistant CoachBetty Hagymasi joined the Science Department faculty in 2021. She teaches Chemistry, Honors Chemistry, and AP Chemistry. In the fall, she is the Head Coach for JV Field Hockey, and in the winter, she coaches Boys and Girls Varsity Skiing. Betty holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Skidmore College and a master's in science education from New York University. She played club ice hockey and field hockey in college. She is also a certified lifeguard and water safety instructor. Prior to joining Gunn, she taught at Canton High School, where she was also a volunteer coach for field hockey. She was the aquatics director at Boulder Ridge Day Camp, a lifeguard instructor for the Ebner Camps (Awosting, Chinqueka, Boulder Ridge and Eagle Rock), and a volunteer JV ice hockey coach at Fairfield Warde High School. In her spare time she enjoys reading, drinking coffee, hiking, swimming, and cheering for her kids at their respective sporting events (mostly baseball and softball). She loves a good bluegrass festival and, fun fact: she is a National Geographic certified educator.
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Head CoachIn addition to assisting the Crew Team and coordinating The Frederick Gunn School’s Regattas, Sal is the Head Coach for the Boys and Girls Varsity Ski Teams and teaches U.S. History and in 2021, taught a popular Winterim course, "Revolutionaries, Spies and a Traitor." Outside of Gunn, he operates the Bicycle Tour Company, based in Kent. As an Independent Revolutionary War Historian, he authored two Experiential Learning Travel Guides. In August 2021, Sal’s led a 700-mile Bike and Kayak Tour, following the 1781 Route of the French and American Armies from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia, supported in part by a grant from the National Park Service. While at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, he studied Economic Development in Sri Lanka and enjoyed rowing competitively.