To support developing nordic athletes and give them opportunities to compete and train at an elite level, nationally and internationally, at a young age.

I was in Silver Star, British Columbia, and we went out for an easy ski to enjoy the last couple of days of our Thanksgiving training camp. My coach, teammates, and I found a bunch of snow-covered mountain bike jumps. We took about an hour to build a run-in that we could ski down on our very skinny Nordic skis. We created a track that flowed through the winding jumps until it reached our take-off point that was the main jump in the run. The jump itself was massive, about 6 feet wide at the take-off and about 20 feet long. The idea of clearing the whole jump and landing was not something we thought would be possible. We all took turns hitting the edge of the jump, progressing slowly. Eventually, another teammate decided he was going to hit it head-on and hope for the best. We used a snowmobile track for extra speed and watched in shock as my teammate flew 15 feet into the air and landed hard about 5 feet away from the landing. Instinctively, I began to hike up to the top of the track, and before I knew it adrenaline was coursing through my veins and I was speeding down the track heading right at the massive jump on tiny sticks with only a little notch on the front of my boot holding them in place. I was flying, and the world stopped. I was completely in the moment and the only thing in my mind was love for what I was doing right then and there and for the people around me. Soon after my moment, I did in fact come hurling into the ground with a tremendous force I hadn’t felt before, but I felt the thrill in my body and knew I would remember that moment, forever. Whenever I feel unmotivated or unhappy with skiing I think back to this moment. It embodies why I love skiing better than I could ever explain, and I am only able to do what I love and use it to become a better skier because of opportunities for development from the NNF.