Nordic Ski Team (Student Organization)

This year marks the 27th year of Rachel and Christi’s coaching of UW Nordic Ski Team. Our days will be filled with training sessions, camps, races and endless volunteer work. They scoop dried nacho cheese from stadium seats after football games and run gear swaps, among many other things. Yet we still struggle to fund even basic travel expenses, equipment needs, and race entry fees. This year, half of our team is comprised of new young members. 

It is in the honor of this ski family and these traditions that we ask your support this year of the UW Nodic Ski Team. We particularly want to honor Evelyn Boggs, who unfortunately passed away earlier this year.

Your support will make all the difference this tenth anniversary of UW Giving Day!

~~~

To better understand, read this letter lovingly written by Coach Rachel: 

When we arrived at the Boggs’ Burrow, the sun was setting. The low cumulous clouds settled down on the Mosquito range like whip cream melting over a delectable crumble of Leadville’s rockiest ascents. The upperclassmen flew from the van to the front yard like bees drawn to nectar. The freshman, not knowing what to expect, followed. Soon, the little white fence above the collapsing front wall of 308 West 7th was lined with skiers all gazing to the mountains. The sky, many shades of coral was so alight that Eleanor, one of our new freshman asked, “In what direction is the sun setting?” I pointed to the West and her gaze fixed on Mount Massive, the peak we would run tomorrow. 

I stood back from the little picket fence and took in our new team. As if she could sense my remembering of so many teams past, Wren walked back to me and gave me a huge hug. Her dark eyes locked with mine and I could feel the soul of the team. Her hug told me that despite not being on the team with all of you, my dearest alumni, she somehow, almost magically remembered. Later that evening, along with Izzy Brown, she would bombard the cupboard in the Burrow that holds all of Norwegian sweaters that Evelyn so lovingly handknit. 

Once we all retreat to the Burrow, I do my best to introduce the freshman to what it means to ‘camp inside our out’ at the Burrow. I show them the loft and the men’s team makes their way up. They sit on the edge with their feet dangling over. Christi and I do our best to recreate the warmth with which Evelyn and Dick imbued every cranny, crevice, and cracked wall of this home that was once only a temporary 19th century mining shack. One-by-one, the grandskiers learn the locations of the spatulas, cheese graters, and pan lids. I try to be mostly an observer as the skiers continue to test the hypothesis that, no matter the size of the group, all will eventually fit in the kitchen. I tell them that this home is not Christi and mine’s but that it is all of ours, that they are the grandskiers. I ask myself what Evelyn would have thought of the chaos, cheese being spewed on the floor as it is grated, water spraying every which way from the sink and peels being tossed towards the trash only to land on the floor somewhere nearby. I know the answer—she would have absolutely loved every minute of it. She likely would have stolen the sprayer from the sink and started an appropriate water fight. 

I don’t know if the young skiers will ever realize how much Evelyn and Dick poured into the team—their generosity has always been a default value. The upperclassmen have begged us to tell the younger skiers that Dick is the person who, after Rachel hit the last straw with Zima breaking down, purchased our newest team van, Falkor. 

What I want to tell the young skiers is that our alumni have grown up to be just like Dick. Last year, your generosity purchased us an incredible new trailer that Falkor just loves to pull. It is a glistening streamlined silver bit of loveliness that can hold the skiers’ gear and all of the waxing equipment. Moreover, when we get to a venue, it transforms into the most beautiful wax room one can imagine complete with little strings of festive lights and drawers for klister. We love our new trailer and are so grateful to you all for making it possible. 

However, this year for giving day, we are not asking for your donations to fund any one thing. We are, instead asking for donations in Evelyn’s memory and in the spirit of giving that is a fundamental way of being for our ski family. 

We love you, we miss you, and we thank you.