STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Barb Dunn has a singular mission this winter.
She wants to get youngsters whose parents have never skied or snowboarded to strap on a pair of skis and give it a try.
Dunn is the face behind Rota-Rippers, a new program being offered this year by the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation at Rotarun Ski Area west of Hailey.
The after-school program under Head Coach Brian Caulkins is aimed at 5- to 9-year-olds, including first-generation skiers.
Rota-Rippers will get two lessons a week from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursday starting Jan. 16 and continuing through Feb. 27. The cost of $200 will include a season pass to Rotarun. Sturtevants’ Olin Glenne has agreed to provide ski and boot leases at affordable rates. Bilingual instruction will be provided.
And the SVSEF has created a First Turns Initiative to solicit sponsorships from organizations like St. Luke’s Wood River, Power Engineers and Cox Communications to help those who need further assistance.
Dunn, a 20-year ski coach who taught in the SVSEF’s LASAR program last year, hopes she can get some Hispanic youngsters on board.
“I came here last year from Vermont and I noticed right away that there were hardly any Hispanic children involved in our programs. And I think that’s a shame. This whole valley would not work without the Hispanic people who take care of the landscaping and other work. And I don’t think the valley is doing enough to support them,” she said.
“I don’t know whether we’ll get two Hispanic kids or 30, but I’d like to get 30,” she added. “These kids live in a valley where everybody is focused on the mountain. Why shouldn’t they enjoy it, as well?”
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation has assumed the operations of the Rotarun Ski Area for the 2017-18 ski season where Rota-Rippers will take place. The SVSEF will take care of the grooming, staffing, lifts and maintenance. Then its board members will meet with the Rotarun board, which remains in place, to determine how to proceed next year, said Sam Adicoff, executive director of SVSEF.
“Clearly our interest is in continuing skiing in the South Valley and trying to give every kid an affordable opportunity to learn to ski,” he said. “There are a lot of moving parts so this winter will allow us to get a feel for things.”
Under the new management, Rotarun will continue to provide a venue for SVSEF’s LASAR Program, the Learn to Alpine Ski and Race program for 7- to 11-year-olds. That program, which costs $250, will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays for seven weeks beginning Jan 5 and continuing through February.
Rotarun will be open to the public from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 5:30 to 9 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. It will not be open on Sundays. Community events, such as the Arkoosh Cup, will continue.
The tubing lanes that were built last year will not be maintained this year, although those with lift tickets will be welcome to tube in the former tubing area. Tubing without a pass will not be permitted due to liability concerns.
While snowmaking is essential for long-term viability, it will not be instituted this year, said Adicoff, who’s keeping his fingers crossed for a repeat of last year’s record-breaking snowfall.
Scott McGrew, SVSEF alpine program director, called Rota-Rippers “an amazing opportunity” that helps serve the needs of the valley’s lesser-served community while helping Rotarun remain financially viable and impactful.
“We believe that every kid in the Wood River Valley should have the opportunity to engage in winter sports, build confidence and establish a lifelong relationship with the mountains around them,” he added.
Dunn said she was inspired by the Jackson, Wyo.-based Doug Coombs Foundation, which last year enrolled 180 children from working-class families in a ski instruction program with the help of sponsors, grants and donations.
The foundation, named for an extreme ski pioneer who died while trying to rescue a friend in La Grave, France, is meant to break down cultural and economic barriers and cultivate a healthy lifestyle and a passion for nature and the outdoors. It also believes that increased self-confidence can improve academic performance.
That program has grown to keep the kids active year-round with activities such as soccer, rock climbing and hiking.
“If we get the kids out on the snow, the parents will be happy and the kids will be thrilled,” said Dunn. “They’ll be having fun outdoors instead of sitting home in front of a TV. These kids will walk away with concrete skills--lifelong skills, while making new friends and learning about things like teamwork. And, hopefully, they’ll come away with the idea that they can go anywhere in the world.”
IN OTHER NEWS:
- Enrollment in the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation programs is ahead of last year’s record-breaking enrollment of 675 youth.
- Connor Davis has started dryland training for the new Big Mountain Team. The team features 21 athletes ages 14 through 18, including four females.
- The youngsters will train by skiing Baldy, working out in the Sagewillow Air Barn and going with Sawtooth Mountain Guides into the backcountry.
- “Baldy has produced a lot of big mountain skiers. Just look at Reggie and Zach Crist, McKenna Peterson, Lynsey Dyer and Lexi duPont,” said SVSEF Director Sam Adicoff.
- The Sun Valley Ski Education hopes to stage its preseason Sun Valley Alpine Training Camp on Baldy Saturday, Nov. 18, through Wednesday, Nov. 22. Sun Valley plans to open the mountain to the public on Thanksgiving, Nov. 23.
- The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation will hold its 41st annual Wild West Game Dinner at 5:30 p.m.Nov. 17 in the Sun Valley Inn Limelight Room. The fundraiser helps the SVSEF subsidize an average 40 percent of program costs for youngsters.
- The gourmet game meal and paddle-up auction will be followed by a night of rollicking country music from The Sammy Steele Band of Seattle.
- Tickets are $125 through Friday, Oct. 20, available at www.svsef.org or by calling 208-726-4129.
- Sun Valley Ski Education will sell Rotarun season passes this year. Passes are $100 for adults 18 and older and $50 for youth, available at www.svsef.org or by calling 208-726-4129.
FIRST TURNS INITIATIVE
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation has created the First Turns Initiative, a sponsor-funded scholarship program to help young athletes ages 5 through 11 afford team fees and gear to participate in programs at Rotarun Ski Area.
Sponsors will receive brand recognition on Rotarun’s Sponsorship Board, on the SVSEF website and through other means. For information, contact SVSEF Director of Development Cynthia Knight at cknight@svsef.org or 208-726-4129.