It's Official

Scott was officially nominated to the 2011 US Alpine Ski Team on May 25th. It was a great day for him and our family and he basked in the hundreds of letters and generous words from friends and family. One thing that struck us all is how great it is to live in a small, close-knit, community. If we lived in a city, perhaps a few neighbors in each direction would be aware of Scott's career. However here in Sandpoint everyone knows and celebrates each other's successes. We can't walk down the street or in a store without someone coming up to talk. Really neat and old fashioned in a funny sort of way. Personal.

With Scott joining the team comes an intense schedule that chops the summer into pieces. They'll have him for a couple of weeks every month, then he'll head to Chile for the month of September. I'll travel with him (except to Chile due to expense) so my summer is similarly shuffled. That doesn't leave much time for work around the house, Scott's job, school or relaxing. We've both been going 90 mph since getting home.

Scott will be working with an excellent coaching staff. The head coach, Randy Pelkey, has a strong reputation and is also very organized. That's a huge thing in this business. My original plan had been just to travel with Scott and maintain a low profile, tuning his skis and supporting from a distance. Randy and I met for a while last week and he invited me to be on the hill and pitch in. I was totally taken aback, but jumped on the offer. This is better than I'd hoped. So, although I'm not an official member of the staff, I will be involved and be inside the venues for training and competition.

Now we confront the next major challenge -- funding. Joining the team does not mean free skiing. In fact, the team charges all "unfunded" athletes $22K per season for tuition. Scott will be unfunded for at least two years. Add to that the expense of me tagging along and we're looking at a big chunk of change. The search for grants and donations begins this week. This is my least favorite part of the business.