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News and Information about the People and Programs of Ski for Light, Inc.
Skiing. Sharing. LearningThe mission of Ski for Light is to enhance the quality of life and independence of visually or mobility-impaired adults through a program of cross country skiing.
Dear SFL Friends,
I'm writing to you once again as president of Ski for Light. I was honored to be elected to the office again at this year's mid-week board meeting. I want to thank Scott McCall, who served as president for four years, for his committed service to and involvement with SFL. Ski for Light is in good shape and we are looking forward to a healthy future. For the next few years, I am committed to working with our board, with our executive committee, and with all other committees and their members to encourage and to mentor our leadership for the future. There are many enthusiastic and talented participants and guides who are poised for leadership. Combining that enthusiasm with experience and historical perspective of veteran leaders, we have a great future ahead.
Every two years, in even years, SFL holds board and officer elections. You will read more about this year's election later in the Bulletin. I want to welcome new board members and officers, and to thank outgoing board members for their service and dedication to SFL. I know that they will continue to be actively involved in many facets of our organization.
And, speaking of the future, 2019 event chair Krista Erickson, is assembling her Planning Committee. The event will be January 27 to February 3 at one of our favorite XC ski areas, Snow Mountain Ranch. I'm confident we will have another stellar event. More details will be announced soon, and applications will be posted by mid to late- July.
The work throughout the year is done by volunteers who serve in various committee capacities. I will be appointing committee chairs, who will be building their teams over the next weeks. Please contact me if you are interested in getting more involved in our unique and successful program.
The 2018 week at Reno and Tahoe Donner Cross Country Ski Area was a good week. We were very fortunate to receive a snow dump on Wednesday night and the crew at Tahoe Donner did a wonderful job of grooming our tracks; Saturday's day of skiing was about as good as it gets, and having lunch outside on the patio on that sunny day, as my skier, Denise Avant, and I did, made it an even better way to end the week. We were pleased to have Sons of Norway International President, Jon Tehven, and his wife, Gloria, join us from Wednesday on, and Jon presented a check for $1,000 from the Bjarne Eikevik bequest during Norway Night.
I look forward to seeing you at the 2019 event, but especially being in touch throughout the year. You can reach me in Iowa at 515- 279-3681; on my mobile at 515-240-6701, or via e-mail at MLElmquist@AOL.com.
Cheers,
Marion
When I arrived in Reno on the afternoon of Thursday, January 18, the temperature was 65 degrees, a warm wind was gusting and picking up steam, and I was overdressed in my jeans and winter jacket, perspiring by my overstuffed duffel and ski bags at the hotel shuttle pickup area. Of greater concern, however, was the fact that there was no snow at Tahoe Donner Ski Area. "Be prepared for everything," I kept telling myself, holding out hope that the forecasted two feet of white gold would bless the Lake Tahoe Basin overnight and would alleviate all our concerns.
Two feet of snow did not magically appear in the Sierra that evening, but between Friday and Sunday, there came just enough that the hard-working Tahoe Donner staff and groomers could coax and massage it into remarkably good skiing conditions for the start of the 43rd Ski for Light International week. For much of the week, skiing was a mix of early season and spring conditions with morning crunchiness and afternoon soupy corn snow. By midweek, the trails were showing the effects of several hundred skiing enthusiasts striding over scant snow cover, and a busload of SFL'ers ventured farther west to test out the tracks of the Auburn Ski Club. A dizzying network of trails, with sharp ascents and steep plunges, intertwined and intersected on a hillside slightly larger than a postage stamp. As dark clouds built toward the west and a chill wind picked up speed, I thought about being lost in the mountains with a storm approaching and was glad to bunch up together for a group photo in front of the clubhouse before heading east on the Nugget-bound shuttle.
Our collective patience and persistent snow dances paid off on Wednesday night, not in the form of a stack of blue chips from the Nugget casino, but, even better, with a mother lode of 15 inches of white snowflakes. As they contemplated the trek west on Thursday morning, our shuttle drivers probably did not share our enthusiasm for the bounty of new snow and promise of great tracks and good skiing, although one driver boldly proclaimed that he could chain up in less than 10 minutes. Road conditions tested the drivers' prowess as they negotiated snow-packed roads, installed chains, removed chains, unwrapped chains from axles, and crept their way toward Tahoe Donner, gingerly edging into the parking lot. The ski area's trail staff eagerly welcomed us as we clambered from the shuttles, and exquisitely manicured trails greeted us as we clicked on our skis and explored newly groomed terrain. Now I understood why so many people raved about the skiing at Tahoe Donner.
Superb conditions awaited us on Friday for our annual Olav Pedersen Race/Rally. I was grateful for the new snow that fell overnight when I spun out of control and face-planted into the trailside powder. We basked in warm temperatures and brilliant sunshine on Saturday, our final day of skiing. Spirits were high out in the tracks and around the fire pits as we logged our final kilometers for the week and shared stories and memories with new and old friends.
The prospect of skiing is what captured my imagination when I discovered Ski for Light seven years ago. What compels me to return each year is the group energy, creativity, and dedication for making the most out of our week together.
This year, more than 250 of us stuffed our ski bags and crammed our luggage full of stuff we might or might not use or wear. None of us could say with confidence that we would be able to ski all six days. The members of the event planning committee worked tirelessly before and during the event to plan for every conceivable contingency. Thankfully, enough snow fell in a timely manner, and we skied all week and did not have to test out the 75 lanes at the National Bowling Center. At the Nugget, when five of the six east tower elevators broke down one by one--the ones we used continually as that tower was where SFL was lodged--our community persuasively persuaded the Nugget that waiting for the Otis repair person to arrive the next day was not the best option; so, we finally had access to their service elevators and to the usually locked exterior stairwells thereafter.
We came prepared for nearly everything, and nearly everything happened. With characteristic Ski for Light style and verve, we skied, we danced, we sort of Sumo-wrestled and scrambled on hands and knees and unsteady feet through, over, up and down inflated Bounce House obstacles. We shared some laughs and some tears, we bid against each other for coveted Silent Auction items, and celebrated our Norwegian heritage.
It was truly a memorable event, and I am looking forward to next year's new adventures and memories at Snow Mountain Ranch, which will host our 44th Ski for Light International Week.
As we reflect on SFL 2018, it is not too early to begin planning for next year. The 44th annual Ski for Light International Week will be held from the evening of January 27 to the morning of February 3, 2019. We will be once again congregating at Snow Mountain Ranch, near Granby, Colorado. For those of you who have had the pleasure of skiing there (most recently in 2017, 2015 or 2011), you already know that this is one of the best skiing venues frequented by Ski for Light. As part of the YMCA of the Rockies, SMR offers one hundred kilometers of trails providing ample skiing for all abilities from beginner to advanced. One of the perks of staying at the ranch is that those fabulous trails are just a short shuttle ride or ski away from lodging.
More details about the 2019 International Week will be published in the summer and fall editions of the SFL Bulletin, with applications for the event available online in mid-to late July. General information about the International Week and Snow Mountain Ranch is available now at www.sfl.org/events/next.
We look forward to skiing with you in Granby!
Editor's Note: Little had Amy White known that a chance encounter between two men in an RV park would be the start of her next adventure! One day, her husband found himself in said park, doing some work on their home away from home. He struck up a conversation with another guy doing some work on his own vehicle. As that gentleman happened to be our very own Patrick McManus. Well, it was all over for this brave soul, who first guided at the 2016 Methow Valley Regional, and whose adventures in Tahoe Donner have gotten her so excited, she hopes to bring her Mom along to 2019's ski week at Snow Mountain Ranch! The following article is an adaptation of the speech Amy delivered during SFL 2018's Banquet Night awards ceremony.
For those of you who have never done it, guiding is hard work. By the end of the first day of skiing the beautiful Tahoe Donner trails with the vivacious Tiffany Jessen, I was mentally dragging from the focus required for guiding, combined with shouldering the weight of feeling responsible for someone else's safety. I was sleepy-tired from waking up at 6am because Tiffany convinced me to go to Nino's stretch class. And I was physically fatigued from skiing all day from when the earliest bus arrived to when the latest bus departed, chasing her down the hills across the ski resort as she gleefully double-poled away from me.
Added to all that, we had a jam-packed schedule of activities in the evening and my skier wanted to do it all (no surprise, as her somewhat quiet/shy exterior hides an adventurous and spirited enthusiast who'd attended two, prior International ski weeks). When I finally got back to my room at 10:30 that night, I was exhausted. I scanned through our program, counting the number of days left, and thought to myself, boy, this is going to be a long week.
As I got more comfortable guiding and accustomed to the routine, though, the days started to fly by. I learned to recognize when my guiding directions were and were not needed and we dialed in what a little left really meant (which was not turn as far left as you can). We spent hours together on the trail, sharing stories, giggling, and keeping a tally of how many times we took out the other person. (I'd like to point out that I won: I took her out three times but she only got me twice.) And then, there we were at Saturday, and I was dismayed to find the event nearly over.
One particularly memorable moment from the week was a maiden voyage down the emergency- only exit stairwell (before we were granted permission to use them) with Tiffany, fellow guide, Karen Anderson, and skier extraordinaire, Charlie Wirth in a last ditch effort to make it to the buses after watching six or seven jam-packed elevators pass us by. (Well, technically it was a single elevator that went up and down six or seven times because the rest were broken). We were concerned we might set off the building alarm or that we'd be completely lost when we exited to the street level and that we'd miss the bus and would get stuck wandering about trying to get our bearings in downtown Reno; yet, we decided to give it a shot. So we wound down seven flights of stairs, through long hallways poorly lit by flickering fluorescent lights and lined with emergency sprinkler systems until we came to a set of four doors--our final exit to the street. We huddled briefly and agreed to run off in four different directions if the alarm bell started, and then we pushed through the doors. To our delight, no alarm sounded and we found ourselves directly across the street from the waiting busses.
I suspect we all have stories like this about how a positive attitude, some flexibility, and a sense of adventure made a week of many unexpected challenges (like lack of snow, lack of elevators, buses that changed parking orders daily, and six days of soggy sandwiches and wraps) such a huge success and oh, did I mention, so much fun.
So I think we should give ourselves a round of applause for the great times we've had, for the friendships we've made, and for our perseverance. Thank you all and I'll see you next year!
Ski for Light, Inc. is an all-volunteer organization managed by an elected Board of Directors. Between meetings of the full Board, the affairs of the organization are managed by an Executive Committee composed of the six board officers plus the Immediate Past President. Board members serve four-year terms, and officers serve two-year terms.
During the recent 2018 event, elections were held for about half of the 25 Board seats, and for all six officer positions. We welcome new Board members Michael Evelo, Nancy Milsteadt, Linda Pederson, Dave Wilkinson and Karen Wood. For their past service, we thank outgoing Board members Heather Berg, Robert Hartt, Eivind Heiberg and Bonnie O'Day.
We also welcome new President Marion Elmquist, Vice President Tim McCorcle and Directors-at-Large Amy Brannan and Nancy Milsteadt. For their past service, we thank the three outgoing officers: President Scott McCall, Vice President Bob Civiak and Director-at- Large Heather Berg.
Here is the full Board roster for 2018 to 2020.
Executive CommitteeWhat a great time I had with my skier, and with the giant and wonderful SFL family! It was Josh Sisson's first time on skis: After three years of turning down Erica Wolf's offers and urgings to join us, he finally said okay
We had a great week! Our first couple of hours were spent at the practice tracks next to the lodge (where Pixie and crew were always very helpful). Then, we were off! Josh never looked back! Fortunately, we stumbled across a great hill for learning how to snowplow, then to do the diagonal stride similar to the waltz: 1-2-3, change weight. The next day, we spent 45 minutes side-stepping on that icy section just before the bridge. It seemed like a good spot to practice that technique. Stopping for lunch was over-rated. We had a late bite to eat on the bus, usually between 3:50 and 3:58, as we headed back to the Nugget!
On Friday we completed the 10K. Saturday, we went exploring, and ran across a black diamond where Josh responded instantly to the sit command, as he did to the left, right, snowplow commands. When we got to the bottom of the trail with the left, right commands, Josh turned around and said, "Were you messing with me?" Naturally, I responded, "No!" That trail boasted a bit of a drop off on one side, and rock formations on the other. Then, there was the getting up after a fall: It was amazing to witness his 30-second recovery time, given how tangled up things got when he'd landed in the snow. (Blame that on being a black belt in judo, a great item to have in your back pocket!)
Josh is hooked on skiing and will be focused on bettering his time on the 10K next year. A huge thanks to him for a great week and great attitude, and for inspiring me: He always kept trying, in keeping with the SFL motto, "If I can do this, I can do anything!"
Cheers. See you next year at Snow Mountain Ranch.
We recently heard the sad news that Trond Woxen, long-time Ski for Light guide, passed away in Oslo on March 12th. Although he had had a few health problems in recent years, his death, at age 75, was unexpected. He guided at 15 events, the last in 2006. Ski for Light was a very big part of Trond's life and he was so sorry when his health made him give up guiding.
"Not such a long time ago, in a galaxy not too far, far away..."
Cue the booming fanfare and familiar marching lines of golden text receding into the infinite distance of space. Why an intro of such galactic proportions? Keep reading, oh adventure seekers, as I tell you the tale of the epic journey that changed me and my life forever!
On the morning of January 21, I awoke, unsure whether I could embark on the SFL ski trip for which I'd been planning and prepping for more than a month. As if my nerves weren't already frayed enough, the dawn of my planned departure saw me shakily recovering from quite the battle with a bout of the 48-hour flu, and I just didn't know whether I had it in me to leave the house, let alone to head off into uncharted territory.
Actually, the tough times started long before that morning: The past two years had been hell. I'd lost my dad quite suddenly in early 2016, and my 16-year old service dog less than three weeks afterward. Then, just a short nine months later, my Mom and I had to move from the area where I'd lived all my life; so, the prospect of doing something this bold and different, save meeting up with one of my childhood BFF's, Andrea Goddard, was overwhelming, to say the least! Andrea's impassioned entreaties to join SFL had peppered our conversations since 2010, and she convinced me that this would finally be the year for me to take this giant leap of faith.
Having lived a pretty sheltered life, I'd never really done much independently or without the presence of at least one of my family members; hence, getting to the airport, boarding the plane for what was to be only about my third solo airline flight ever, arriving at the Nugget, & the entire rest of the to-do of getting there made me feel very much like a young Padawan Jedi trainee boarding a starship bound for parts unknown. All this physical, mental and emotional overload, coupled with what I thought was a major ski wardrobe malfunction that first morning, nearly had me heading home and calling it quits before I ever even hit the trails, but thank goodness, I decided to stick around.
I got out there on my sit ski with my guide, Scott Bertrand, and the rest as they say, is history. By the end of that first day, my outlook had shifted, and everything in me did a complete 180.
Andrea and her guide, David Fisichella, skied with us the whole week, and I skied my tail off, never imagining I'd do so much my first time out. Of course, there were some tough spots, owing to the iffy snow conditions early in the week, and to my being a total novice. To further complicate things, I needed near-constant help shifting into a better position in my sit ski. I fell at least a couple of times every single day. And even my poor 30-year veteran expert guide and co- pilot, Scott, was not immune to the pain and the sting of embarrassment upon taking a few crashes into the back of my ski, as well as to falling prey to a couple of spills, himself. (Han Solo and Luke Skywalker never had stuff like this happen). But then came Saturday: On that one glorious day, neither guide nor skier had a single fall between us! The smooth descents of the hills, with the wind whispering and singing all around me, had all the thrill and freedom of jetting over the frozen landscape of the ice planet Hoth in a snowspeeder, as in the "Empire Strikes Back." Pod racing had nothing on this rush. It was like no other! There's no better, cooler, or more incredible way I could have hoped to end a positively phenomenal week! During those exhilarating moments, I felt like I could have taken on the whole Empire, myself!
I shared tons of love and laughs with Andrea (my roommate and friend of 25 years), with her dog O'Shea, and with a big handful of new friends. And I learned a ton, not just about skiing, but about myself, life, love, people, and so much more! I am usually fairly shy and reserved (professing myself to be somewhat socially awkward), but you'd have a hard time guessing it from a lot that happened during my initiation into this great, big, amazing family! Thanks to some sage and gentle, but insistent encouragement from my guide, Scott, and from a handful of various partners, I learned I could tear it up at blurring speed on the dance floor along with everyone else, just like I could out on the trails, even though I had never really danced before, and might have looked as awkward and ungainly as C-3PO on wheels. I also discovered the totally unexpected and little-known phenomenon of getting into a snowball fight with a tree! (Thanks so much for that, Jedi Master Bertrand, LOL!!!)
I finally now know for myself what people mean when they say that, "family isn't just the one you're born into: It is also the one you choose."
I made some real strides in coming out of the shell that has been my life and world until now, and I feel I have gotten a lot better at asking for a hand when I really need it. I learned that my voice is like my light saber, the tool that will illuminate and guide my way as I navigate interactions with others. By using it to get a little help, I found that I can participate in and really live life much more actively than I ever thought possible. Also, being able to share such an amazing experience with Andrea, one that she's known about and has been telling me all along is so unforgettable. Well, there's no better way to say this: It's been absolutely awesome! Snow Mountain Ranch and 2019 can't come soon enough.
Before SFL, I was someone who never really could see a whole lot happening for myself beyond the day-to-day, small world that has always been my reality. What with all the challenges and heartache that had come to dominate my life and to cloud my outlook, I hadn't really been able to find much of anything capable of rekindling a light of happiness and hope; yet, this whole experience has really started to shift, to brighten, and to stir something deep inside me.
The Jedi teaching here is that the hard times in life are like skiing up a hill out on the trail: It may be that you're fighting against the odds to crest the summit of what feels like an Everest-worthy climb, with a chill gale howling in your face and trying to push you inexorably back the way you came. You might not be able to see the top, but you do know it's there somewhere. And, if you just keep pushing all the way through, if you just keep pushing and don't give up, eventually you'll hit that summit. Then, with a little luck, it should just be sweet, smooth sailing down to the bottom, where, you hope, something better and brighter is waiting for you. That has really begun to bring home General Han Solo's words from the "Empire Strikes Back," "Never tell me the odds!" Also, there are the words of Jedi Master Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try."
And, if you're lucky, you'll have a solid, expert co-pilot who will have your back, as I did.
SFL is like a place that trains new Jedi Knights. A place where the Force is alive and strong: It surrounds and penetrates us. It binds us all together.
During this past incredible ski week that really did have all the wisdom and adventure of a "Star Wars" epic; I lived out our organization's namesake: I Skied For Light!
Thanks to this spirited, resilient, and loving group of new friends, I have come to know something I wasn't sure I'd be able to feel or to say ever again: This Jedi has returned, and the Force is definitely with me!
There are nine local affiliates of Ski for Light, Inc. scattered throughout the United States. All of them have a winter program centered on cross-country skiing, and several of them also have a summer program as well. The summer programs range from week-long programs to single day trips or hikes. The Regionals that usually offer summer activities are the Black Hills, Montana, New England, Northeast Pennsylvania and Sierra affiliates. You can learn the details of what each Regional is offering this summer by visiting their respective websites for their latest news. Each is linked directly from the Regionals page on the SFL website at www.sfl.org/events/regionals.
Our thanks go to the following companies that have provided products or services to help support Ski for Light. Many of these companies have stood behind us for years - and we're grateful. Be sure to think of our friends when you're gearing up for your next adventure.
JanSport * Black Diamond * Blue Ridge Chair Works * Borton Overseas Travel * Chums * Clif Bar * Columbia * Crazy Creek * Dansko * Darn Tough Socks * Eagle Creek * Energizer * Farm to Feet * Find Me Spot * Fjallraven * Fox River Mills * Haiku * Injinji * Kavu * Leki * Lodge Cast Iron * Mountainsmith * Native Eyewear * Nite Ize * Olly Dog * Patagonia * Peet Shoe Dryers * Ruffwear * Spyderco Knives * Travelon * Turtle Fur * Zuke's
The SFL Bulletin is published three times a year. It is available in ink-print or via
e-mail. If you wish to change formats, please send your request to: webmaster@sfl.org
The current as well as past issues of the Bulletin are also available online at www.sfl.org/bulletin. In addition to an online edition that may be read in your browser, you will find a downloadable pdf version of the current issue.
For future Bulletins, remember that your contributions and feedback are always most welcome. You may submit articles as e-mail or as a word or text attachment. Send all items to:
Andrea GoddardThe deadline for the Summer 2018 Bulletin is June 15, 2018. We look forward to hearing from you.
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