SkiDuck's first year was quite a success story. From it's conception in August '09 by Executive Director Clint Lunde it was a less than six months until SkiDUCK had it's first outing at Squaw Valley on February 7, 2010. More than 30 students from Reno's North Valleys middle and high schools skied and snowboarded for their first time ever! Middle-schooler Corey Lundy summed up the day - "I felt like Superman, I was on top of the world!"
All told, in the first ski season SkiDUCK was able to account for a total of over 200 rider-visits for the kids. While these ski days were arranged around the Lake Tahoe region Clint Lunde and his volunteer Board members are dreaming of making the program happen across the country.
I recently had the opportunity to talk with Clint Lunde, SkiDUCK founder and Executive Director, about how SkiDUCK came to be and where SkiDUCK might be going in the future.
Interview with Clint Lunde
Clint, Why do you care about getting the underprivileged and disabled kids out on the slopes?
When I'm asked this question the answer is the same it's just that giving disadvantaged or challenged kids the chance to experience the sheer joy and exhilaration of skiing and snowboarding are reason enough for me to do it. I've taught many kids to ski, and I know first-hand how much fun it is for them. But more importantly, as many of us have experienced, the mountains and outdoors - and more specifically for some, skiing and snowboarding - have the power to change people's lives. Seriously.
Some hardly recognize it, since they can only ride for a few weekends a season and then go back to their usual weekday grind. But for others, the mountains become a retreat - where they can rejuvenate their mind, body and soul. More than any other sport or recreation, skiing and snowboarding combine the beauty, peace and serenity of the mountains with the rush of excitement and exhaustion of pushing yourself to your physical limits. I'm so excited to present this new world to kids who otherwise may never have discovered it. And let's face it, if you don't learn to ski or snowboard as a child… you're not very likely to endure the long learning curve necessary to really fall in love with it as an adult.
Was there one incident that inspired you to get SkiDUCK going?
As I was approaching my mid-forties, I decided to take some time off from work to think about what I wanted to do with the second half of my life. I called it my "pseudo mid-life crisis". As part of that process, I kept asking myself (big/deep?) questions like: "What is my purpose?" "How can I make more of a difference?" and "How can I better use my passion and skills for a greater good?"
I kept coming back to skiing, the biggest passion in my life for the past 20 years. After a long soul-searching process, I eventually came to the idea for SkiDUCK. In retrospect, I'm surprised it took as long as it did. It's such a perfect combination of my personal passion for skiing and the mountains with my desire to help others in need. But it's not just me. SkiDUCK's mission of teaching skiing and snowboarding to disadvantaged children resonates with skiers and snowboarders across the entire country.
How many Resorts have agreed to host a SkiDUCK outing and what have most offered?
SkiDUCK launched its first event February 7, 2009 at Squaw Valley USA. Between February and April, we launched programs at three other Lake Tahoe resorts; Kirkwood, Sugar Bowl, and Tahoe Donner - and took almost 130 kids out for their first day of skiing or snowboarding. Entirely FREE for the kids! Some of the kids were able to come back for a second day and we finished the season with just over 200 total riders days.
The resorts generously provide the kids with free lift tickets, rentals and lessons! And SkiDUCK provides adult volunteers to chaperone the kids through the rental process, to and from lessons and then free-ride with them in the afternoon.
With the fund raising campaign how many SkiDUCK outings are you hoping for this year?
All four Tahoe resorts that we worked with last season have invited SkiDUCK back again this season, and have increased the number of rider days significantly. We also plan to move beyond the Lake Tahoe area this season to, hopefully, the Pacific Northwest, Midwest and East Coast.
If all goes smoothly, we could grow from 200 skier/rider days last season to over 1,000 days this year. But maintaining the quality of programs is much more important than growing quickly. That includes making sure the kids have the gear they need to be safe and comfortable on the mountain (like gloves, goggles, helmets, etc).
About how much money is needed per outing?
This varies a lot depending upon the club and the size. And one of our biggest expenses (transportation) will grow as the numbers increase as well. For example, a bus ride could cost from $200 - $600 for 40 or more kids, depending upon the area and distance. But that's still a great value: $200 for 40 kids is only $5 per child, for a free full day of skiing or snowboarding including lift ticket, rental and lesson! Unless you're Shaun White and get to snowboard for free wherever you go… there's no better value in the industry than SkiDUCK's model! And since we're entirely volunteer-based, all the donations go to the kids programs - not salaries!
Where do you see SkiDUCK going in the future?
I know I've said this before, but I'm wearing rose-colored glasses at times when looking to the future of SkiDUCK. But in my mind's eye, I foresee programs either founded or partially funded by SkiDUCK at literally hundreds of ski resorts across the entire country, serving thousands of underprivileged and minority children every year!
I envision a national network of local community chapters providing opportunities to children who may never otherwise be exposed to the beauty and life-changing force of the mountains. Eventually, we'll grow beyond U.S. borders to other mountain countries around the world. And I'm certain that someday a child who first stepped into bindings through a SkiDUCK program will also step onto an Olympic, Paralympic, World Cup, or X Games Gold medal podium.
But setting all the grand designs aside, the truest measure of SkiDUCK's success will be years from now when someone who first fell in love with skiing or snowboarding through SkiDUCK takes their own son or daughter to the mountain for their first day on the slopes. That's the dream that still chokes me up.
