SKIING: Fitting right in

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Jan. 29, 2015

Fitting right in

Camille Kaufmann brings new element to West Bend co-op

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

KEWASKUM — All Camille Kaufmann wanted when she joined the West Bend co-op ski team this season was to fit in, make some friends and have fun.

She’s done all of the above. It’s gone better than expected for her and the ski team.

Kaufmann is a foreign exchange from Switzerland and has emerged as one of the team’s top skiers on a squad that had its share of question marks going into this season.

“She’s one of our foreign exchange students that has lit it on fire for us,” West Bend coach John Kasten said. “We’ve had foreign exchange students in the past; they’ve been pretty average skiers.

“Camy’s definitely brought a high level here with her experience from growing up in the mountains.”

Kaufmann grew up in Saint-Luc, Switzerland, a village of 312 people, according to the 2008 Swiss Federal Statistic Office report.

Switzerland is home to some of the most famous ski slopes in the world — the Swiss Alps.

“She’s not only a solid skier for the team,” Kasten said. “She’s definitely a quality person; blends in with our team really well.”

Kaufmann arrived in the United States in August.

“I wanted to meet people,” she said. “I wanted to make friends because I’m new here and I wanted to have fun.”

“And I like skiing,” she said. “That’s my life.”

As expected, life in the U.S. compared to Switzerland is different, but that’s what makes it fun.

“I like challenge,” she said. “The people are really nice so, that helps.”

The biggest difference is how the schools are set up.

In Switzerland, she can’t choose which classes she wants to take.

Kaufmann likes that there is hunting in the United States because her dad is a hunter. And she is a fan of the cheese.

“And the cows,” she said with a smile.

Kasten didn’t know he was going to get Kaufmann on the team until about November, a month before the season started.

“It was a blessing in disguise,” Kasten said.

“I knew we could probably qualify for state,” he added. “I guess I didn’t know we’d be so high in contention.”

Kaufmann’s arrival couldn’t have come at a better time for the sake of the West Bend team.

Last season, West Bend finished third at the state meet. The team has finished in the top-five at state in three of the last four seasons.

After the season, five seniors graduated, including Laura Davenport, who finished 13th overall and 17th in giant slalom at state.

Kasten believed in the collection of skiers he had going into this season, as far as skill and talent. He just didn’t know how they’d fare in terms of consistency.

Sarah Davenport, Laura’s sister, was the leading returning skier from a season ago. Sarah Davenport finished 20th overall at last year’s state meet, including 10th in giant slalom.

“I knew it was going to be a rebuilding year, to an extent,” Kasten said. “However, the younger athletes have stepped up where we’ve brought depth and consistency throughout our one through six seed.

“They’re performing really well.”

Add a foreign exchange student from Switzerland, a hot spot for skiing, and West Bend picks up where it left.

Right away Kasten could see what difference she could make.

“Definitely some natural talent that I hadn’t seen here in the Midwest,” Kasten said. “I just didn’t know what it would shake out to on the race course.”

Assistant coach Jim Brock saw the same thing.

“I had a feeling we’d have a nice year,” he said.

“She’s fast the way she is,” Brock added. “We just made some tweaks.”

It shouldn’t be a surprise, however, as Kaufmann grew up skiing on mountains, which helps a competitive skier, mainly in endurance.

A mountain ski slope in Switzerland can take almost 30 minutes to complete. In addition, a skier can challenge himself or herself with different terrains.

Those opportunities don’t exist in the Midwest.

That’s a reason she thrives on the team.

“She’s been around it for so long,” Kasten said when asked what makes her a good ski racer.

“It’s not about just running through gates anymore,” he added. “The different coaching clinics I’ve gone to emphasize a huge value on free skiing and skiing on different terrain. We’re obviously limited on terrain in the Midwest.

“Longer runs will create a stronger skier because you need that stamina to keep those legs going.”

However, it was a slow start for Kaufmann.

She didn’t own a pair of skis. She rented them back at home. So when she got to the U.S. and joined the team, the first task was to get her equipment.

The early part of the season was spent getting her used to the equipment.

Once that happened, she became a key figure in getting West Bend back into top-three state contention.

“She has a very natural, clean talent,” Kasten said. “She’s brought a different level to the table that we didn’t know we were going to have.”

“I hope we have a good place and have fun,” Kaufmann said.