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Thank you for your support! $$PLAIN_TEXT_PREVIEW$$
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What a fantastic and, well, unusual year it has been! A year ago we hosted our first fundraiser, the Welcome to Winter Party, and it helped launch MEA to a very successful start. Without our athletes, volunteers and your support none of the past year’s successes would have been possible. Thank you! Here is a recap of what we accomplished for our team and community this year and what’s to come for the future.
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New Van & Equipment The money we raised at the Welcome to Winter Party in November 2019 allowed us to purchase a 15-passenger Ford Transit van to transport our athletes to regional Nordic races at Jackson, WY, Soldier Hollow, UT and Sun Valley, ID. The pandemic limited our use of the van this summer to shared, masked-up rides of 15 minutes or less as we took appropriate precautions to stop the spread of COVID. We also accomplished our goal of equipping the Nordic team with the tools (waxing tables, irons, structure, classic and skate test skis, ski bags, tents, waxes, etc) needed to compete at the highest levels of competition.
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Winter Program Last winter we coached twelve youth/junior and PG athletes and 18 adults. Highlights include qualifying our first athlete, Stirling Marshall Pryde, for Junior Nationals, with MEA teammate Izak Becker named first alternate. Izak went on to win the 25K skate race at the West Yellowstone Rendezvous event against a field of 195 competitors. Several of our adult athletes raced in the American Birkebeiner in Wisconsin and posted personal bests. We were on track to send one adult athlete, Mitzi Bowen, to the Masters’ World Championship in Cologne, Italy before the pandemic forced cancellation. As coaches we couldn’t have been more pleased with their performance, attitude and training discipline.
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Summer Program In the spring, with programs on hold and summer training in doubt, we created and marketed a summer program for post-graduate Nordic athletes. The response was beyond our expectations. We recruited and coached 15 college skiers from Bowdoin University, Middlebury, University of New Hampshire, Colby, and St. Lawrence who relocated to Bozeman for the summer. Social distancing, masks and limited shared van rides were the norm as we successfully completed the program virus-free. Our youth and adult programs were ongoing and ever growing as well.
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Our New Skimo Program This winter we are introducing a youth focused Skimo program to our growing list of community-based programs. Skimo, short for ski mountaineering, challenges an athlete in uphill endurance with "skinning" and "boot-packing" up the mountain, and includes an exciting alpine-style descent down the mountain. There are sometimes even technical sections of a skimo race that include use of crampons, ice axes, ropes, and harnesses. Skimo is one of the fastest growing sports on skis in the world! This sport is for the Nordic skier who loves the backcountry and enjoys a thrilling descent, for the alpine skier who would like to skip the lift and add some cardio, and for the mountain biker who wants to keep their fitness level high over the winter.
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Community Programs & Events
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Skis for Schools As a newly registered non-profit, a part of our mission is to give back to the community. During the winter of 2019/20 we invested over $7,000 in 60 pairs of Nordic Rocks skis and poles for two middle schools in Bozeman for use in their physical education (PE) program. While many schools provide a “ski day” to their students each year, our hope is that by providing PE teachers with skis to use in their classes, we can integrate the joy and fitness benefits of skiing and being outdoors into their daily PE curriculum. Our goal is to provide every school in the Gallatin Valley with Nordic Rocks Skis! Nordic Rocks Skis will provide children in our community the opportunity to share Gallatin Valley’s passion for outdoor winter activities and a greater appreciation for the place we call home.
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Montana Endurance Challenge When it became apparent that in-person athletic events were not allowed this summer we quickly pivoted to a virtual race series – The Montana Endurance Challenge. We organized 12 uphill trail running and 4 mountain biking events on Bozeman’s favorite trails. Over 150 athletes signed up for the challenges. To support our local retail community, who had been hard hit by pandemic-related closures and a downturn in business, we used funds from athlete fees to buy gift certificates for weekly winner and raffle prizes. “Thank you for putting the Montana Endurance Challenge on! It was such a great thing to look forward to and such an inventive challenge for these crazy times. With all the races cancelled we really enjoyed having this as an alternative.” - Summer Challenge Participant
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Our Goals Outfit each middle school in the Gallatin Valley area with Nordic Rock skis for their physical education programs and spread the love of outdoor winter recreation to our youth. Develop a yearly calendar of fundraising activities including auctions and athletic competitions to support our community programs. Double the number of participants in our programs this year. Host regional and national Nordic ski races Continue to be an important contributing member in the Intermountain Nordic Division and the US Ski and Snowboard Organization Develop and support additional ski trails in the Bozeman area.
These are ambitious goals for our young organization and with your support this coming year we will achieve them.
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Fundraising Events Due to current restrictions for in-person gatherings, we look forward to 2021 when we can resume our annual "Welcome to Winter" party. In the meantime, we've assembled a virtual "Welcome to Winter" fund drive during the month of December. Then, kick-off 2021 by joining the "Montana Endurance Challenge Winter Race Series," with us starting January 10. Your support keeps MEA thriving and provides affordable programs for families in our community.
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We would like to thank you for making the past year’s successes possible and wish you a safe and endurance-filled winter season!
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