Established in 1965, Team Duluth, formerly known as the Duluth Alpine Club, is celebrating 60 years dedicated to introducing alpine skiing as a life-long sport. During the 2025-26 season, Team Duluth will showcase some of the club members who’ve left a lasting impact on Team Duluth.

In 1974, when Spirit Mountain opened, Morgan Burns began taking ski lessons. Morgan, who had already tried ski jumping at Chester Park, learned quickly and was recommended to join the Duluth Alpine Club, based at Mont du Lac.

The young hockey player attended the Duluth Alpine Club’s Holiday Camp, bussing to Mont du Lac each day, then he began travelling to Mont du Lac a few nights a week to ski gates and participate in the three to four weekend races scheduled during this era.

After hearing about the U.S. Ski Association (USSA), Morgan began training nightly and competing in USSA races. In 1978, at age 9, Morgan began racing in USSA “select” races.

“In 1979, the Duluth Alpine Club moved to Spirit Mountain,” said Morgan. “We had great coaches like Scott “Potter” Neustel, Art Boline, David Salo, and a young coach named Scott "Race " Ransom".

“We had an amazing, critical mass of athletes like Todd Brickson, Kirk and Scott Vesterstein, Joel Davidowski, Davey Wilson, Jim “Jammer” McKenna, Wade Olson, and many others,” said Morgan. “They absolutely pushed me to go faster”.

Morgan’s parents were very involved with the Duluth Alpine Club. Additionally, his sister Nicole and brother Scott both raced. Morgan’s dad, Bill Burns, was notably one of the longest serving Duluth Alpine Club board presidents.

At age 11, Morgan qualified for the USSA U14 Championships where he raced against 12 and 13 year old skiers. At age 12, Morgan won a run at the Junior Olympics, now called Junior Championships. He attributes some of his success to the night training available at Spirit Mount as some of the East Coast and Western skiers did not have night skiing available to them.

Morgan was invited by the U.S. Ski Team to summer training at Government Camp, Mount Hood, Oregon. “Coach Ransom was an incredible coach,” said Morgan. “I went to Oregon, on a bus, with Race for the summer.

At age 13, Morgan won the Giant Slalom and Slalom events at the Junior Olympics at Winter Park, Colo. He continued skiing with the Duluth Alpine Club and with Duluth East High School who earned the state championship team. In 1985, Morgan transferred to the Burke Mountain Academy (BMA), a private college-preparatory boarding school in Vermont, that specializes in training elite alpine ski racers. While attending BMA during his junior and senior years of high school, Morgan competed for the U.S. in the World Junior Championships.

After high school, Morgan made the U.S. Ski team in 1988, 1990, and 1991. He also attended Dartmouth College where he raced at the NCAA level for two years in 1992 and 1993.

When asked what lessons he learned while with the Duluth Alpine Club, Morgan said “I learned how to be an individual competitor while also being part of a team.” Morgan says. “The environment Coach Ransom and the other coaches created was about lifting each other up. I hope I’ve carried this trait forward”.

“Team Duluth, Coach Ransom and the other great coaches, and the racers changed the trajectory of my life,” said Morgan. “I got to see the world because of skiing.”

The Duluth Alpine Club was founded in 1965 by Wes Neustel, Don Salo, Paul Vesterstein, George Hovland, Melvin Cohen, P.A. Briglia, John Haavik, William Atmore and others. Team Duluth is one of ten clubs in Minnesota devoted to alpine skiing as a life-long sport and participating in USSA and FIS programs. Several years ago, D/SAC transitioned into Team Duluth.