The road to the top is a long one. In ski racing, it is particularly difficult. It’s actually much more than the reported 10 years or 10,000 hours of intense practice or skill acquisition (Ericsson et al).

With each day, each season, we see a tremendous investment made in our athletes so those crucial days of training are not a fearsome barrier but are a way to learn, enjoy and build. Volunteers, officials, coaches, parents all tirelessly share their precious time to make our sport better, programs stronger, a training day more productive.

This, is our community. Our family. It is what makes us strong. The ski racing family is probably the single greatest reason for our success.

We see evidence of it everywhere.

Earlier this week a dedicated group gathered to support a young FIS level athlete, Ryan Webster. Ryan’s immediate goal is to ski well enough this season to meet the performance standard for the Alberta Ski Team.

The Webster family are a pretty typical ski racing family. They work hard on and off the hill. Ryan’s father, Sandy, is the Alberta sales rep for Volkl skis. He serves on the Board of the provincial ski association and is Race Chair for several FIS competitions in the province. These are his ‘official’ duties, because Sandy can be found at pretty much every FIS race in the region, helping out somehow. His mom Irene and brother Cameron are always out volunteering throughout the season.

As expected, the ‘ski family’ gathered at the Garrison Pub to lend their support, bidding generously on a range of items gathered from the ski and sport industry, to help raise much needed funding to support Ryan.

And the pleasant surprise: the Rob Bosinger Memorial Trust contributing an unexpected $3,000 to top up the silent auction proceeds. And their kind words: “honoured to give back to a family who has given so much to alpine skiing.”

This is our family. We step up to help each other.