The 1956 NCAA Skiing Championships were contested in Winter Park, Colorado at the third annual NCAA-sanctioned ski tournament to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, and ski jumping in the United States.
Led by coach Willy Schaeffler, co-host Denver claimed their third national championship in as many years, with Dartmouth repeating as the runner-up in the team standings.
Repeat individual champions were Dartmouth's Chiharu Igaya (Alpine, Slalom), Denver's Willis Olson (Jumping, third consecutive), and Idaho's Eirik Berggren (Nordic). Less than two months earlier, Igaya was the silver medalist in slalom at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
Venue
This year's championships were held March 23–25 in Colorado at Winter Park, west of Denver.
The third edition, these were the first NCAA championships in Colorado and the Rocky Mountains.
Team scoring Rank Team Points Denver582.01 Dartmouth 541.77 Middlebury 541.28 Western State (CO) 531.58 Idaho 528.63 Colorado 520.62 Utah 504.61 Washington 502.25 Vermont 473.51 Washington State 472.67 Wyoming 470.15 Michigan Tech 446.99 California 389.63
Individual events Four events were held, which yielded seven individual titles. Friday: Slalom Saturday: Downhill, Cross Country Sunday: Jumping Event Champion Skier Team Time/ScoreAlpine Chiharu Igaya Dartmouth 3:02.0Cross Country Eirik Berggren Idaho 58:27.8Downhill Walt Taulbee Washington 1:30.6Jumping Willis Olson Denver 220.8Nordic Eirik Berggren Idaho 7:21.2Skimeister John Cress Denver 369.23Slalom Chiharu Igaya Dartmouth 2:07.8
See also List of NCAA skiing programs
References