World Cup Dreams set to raise support and have fun

A group of current and former and U.S. Ski Team members are joining together in an effort to raise money for the upcoming competition season. The event, titled World Cup Dreams, will be a collection of on-hill clinics at Mount Hood Ore. and a banquet/auction, held in Portland, Ore., July 17-19.

The gathering is being hosted by the Winter Solutions Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing funds for USSA team athletes, founded by skiers Bryon Friedman and Eric Schlopy.

During the 2008-09 season, the organization supported Caroline Lalive, Paul McDonald, Dane Spencer, Jake Zamansky and Todd Lodwick. Lodwick went on to win two World Championship gold medals and Zamansky had a career-best year, scoring his first World Cup points and competing in the 2009 World Championships in Val d’Isere, France.
A group of current and former and U.S. Ski Team members are joining together in an effort to raise money for the upcoming competition season. The event, titled World Cup Dreams, will be a collection of on-hill clinics at Mount Hood Ore. and a banquet/auction, held in Portland, Ore., July 17-19.

The gathering is being hosted by the Winter Solutions Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing funds for USSA team athletes, founded by skiers Bryon Friedman and Eric Schlopy.

During the 2008-09 season, the organization supported Caroline Lalive, Paul McDonald, Dane Spencer, Jake Zamansky and Todd Lodwick. Lodwick went on to win two World Championship gold medals and Zamansky had a career-best year, scoring his first World Cup points and competing in the 2009 World Championships in Val d’Isere, France.

The event will kick off July 17 with the Fantasy Camp Weekend at the Timberline Ski Area at Mount Hood on the Palmer Glacier. The camp includes two days of clinics with U.S. Ski Team members, social activities, meals, hotel accommodations and more. Individual day clinics will also be available during the weekend. Team members Steven Nyman, Tim Jitloff, Scott Macartney, Kaylin Richardson and more will be on hand to coach and socialize with attendees.

“It’s going to be really flexible, so if masters racers want to do some gate training, we’ll set that up,” said Macartney. “If they want to improve their technique with some drills, we’ll do that. If they just want to free ski and stay casual we’ll do that for them, too.”

A special dinner and auction will be held July 18 at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland. Team members will be in attendance to auction off signed athlete memorabilia, sports and concert tickets, along with local Portland and Oregon-specific items, vacation-home stays in ski resorts and warm-weather locations and other personal items donated by the U.S. Ski Team.

“This is only the second year of this event but it is already becoming kind of a staple,” said Friedman. “People are pretty psyched to ski with some of the team athletes and get to know them face to face.”

The money raised will be used to create high-level scholarships for national team members and athletes on the cusp of making the team. “Up until this year there was less need for things like this, but this year there is a lot of unfunded athletes who have taken an interest in what we are doing,” said Friedman.

Athletes who receive the support are selected based on a criteria of ranking and level of support from other sources. “It’s a little bit tricky because we want to help everyone, but we have to support the athletes who really don’t have the money and can’t afford to compete,” said Friedman.

The organization’s initial goal was to provide disability insurance for every athlete on the national team, but recent budget cuts have forced the group to channel resources to ensure that athletes are able to compete. “Due to the situation right now we ended up having to fund a lot of athletes rather than focus on insurance but that is eventually our goal,” said Friedman.

“Down the road we want to create kind of a pension plan for athletes after they retire or are asked to leave the national team so they have something there for them to either go to school or start a career in something else,” said Friedman “To put it simply we lookout for the best interests of the athletes, and that’s all we do.”  

For more information, visit worldcupdreams.org.