Fundraising!? Who the hell do you think you are, asking for money!

Today I was talking with a very good friend about perception. We were talking about team tryouts, and what the perception of each of us is, currently, how accurate we think it is or isn't, and what we can work on to help be clearer in our intention, so that perception of each of us lines up more accurately with who we feel we really are.

She mentioned to me that when I put my fundraising goal for the season up on Facebook (it's going to cost about 18,500 to meet my training goals this year) that there was this stunned silence, a surprise that I would "ask for money". I asked my friend what the perception was that was created from that, and she said, "well, there's this perception that you are asking for money."

"Well, that's an accurate perception, then, because that's exactly what I'm doing." she laughed, we are more in line than I had thought.

"but it's a negative perception, so why is that? Can you help me understand why raising money for a goal is negative?" I asked.

"Because that's not how it's done. No one has ever done that in a public way before." she answered.

That makes sense. I mean, I had no idea that it "wasn't done" to raise money to meet your training goals.

I shared with my friend what my perspective was, and we agreed that I might write it up so that folks who were upset or confused about it might hear, from the horses mouth, what the heck I think I'm doing.

In the world of competative athletics, art or dance, If you have a goal, say of making the olympic team, you work your butt off until you get some backing so that you can quit the real world and dedicate all your time and effort to training towards that goal.

There is no such thing as a part time olympic hopeful athlete. Plenty of them work jobs as well as training full time. Just like in politics, those who are more well funded have a better shot at making it, because they have better resources and more time to dedicate to training.

This is not an indiction that this person thinks they are more worthy than any other person. This means that the athlete in question, like all of his peers, are willing to work as hard as they can to do the best that they can. Their journey, in fundraising, training, or attempting to qualify is not a reflection on those around them and their worthiness or journey, but simply a dedication to their own goal.

Over the last five years, I have been fortunate enough to have a huge group of very supportive people cheering me on as I go down this path. Openly talking about my desire to be on the team was also audacious, it wasn't something that was done. But I grew up in a world where you stated your goal and then worked hard toward it. Being an Olympic hopeful was something you said out loud and easily, it helped your coaches understand what your goals were and how they should train you.

I myself was a coach for years of world cup and recreational rock climbers. I tailored my coaching to each client according to their goals, I understood how hard to push them according to how far they wanted to go.

Because I stated that I, like so much of our well deserving membership in PSIA, would love to have the job of being on the team and helping inspire instructors all over the country to be passionate teachers who connect well with their clients and other instructors, out loud and in public (via my blog), I was fortunate to find a community of people who were doing the same, training hard to meet their goal, whether that was making the level 2, going for your full cert at 56, or just becoming a ski teacher again after leaving it for so many years. Slowly, the community branded out to include other sports as well.

This amazing community came together and began talking to each other, and it includes cyclists, slack liners, climbers, surfers, buddhist monks, writers, and parents. It includes x games competitors and long distance runners. It includes athletes that excel at a level I could never hope to attain. And all of them talk about the idea of going for a dream with out apology, but with humility, integrity, pulling as many people up along the way as they can.

Along the way, I've been fortunate enough to make relationships with some companies who find value in the community of positive growth that has grown here. It's not about me and my journey, but I'm grateful to represent a huge group of people, more than I ever could have imagined, as we all chase our individual dreams, and believe that we can make a difference.

Those companies support me towards a goal that has traditionally been hard won in silence and suffering. I can not, and could never, have come as far as I've come along my path without the generous donation of gear and funds that people have seen value in contributing.

As a single mom starting a new career in a new town, it has been along financial struggle for me. As it has for so many people who choose to become professional ski instructors. We don't do this because we Hope to become rich. In fact, many of us have left much more lucrative caresses in order to share the passion and joy of playing in the mountains.

Because of that, most of us find creative solutions, we live frugally, we have second, third and even fourth jobs. We are waiters and writers and physicists and window washers, while at the same time spending all of our free time reading, studying and practicing the thing that we are passionate about: skiing, or mountain biking, or cycling or tennis.

We operate as mentors and friends, trusted resources to the people who come to us for advice in our sport, and because we have an obligation to those who trust us to teach them to improve, we have an obligation to ourselves to become excellent, to have a depth of knowledge that is accurate, deep, and ever improving. We have an obligation to be fit, strong, to be able to demonstrate effectively that which we know intuitively or through study. We practice the art of sharing ideas, of infecting our students, be they other instructors or the general public though classes in public speaking, acting, presentation and play.

Because I am grateful to my community, I feel, in this last year of training before the tryout, that it is my obligation to find creative ways to dedicate as much of my time, effort and energy to training as possible. You have been with me, and I with you guys, through thick and thin, and this is it. There are about 230 days to the tryout.

It can be another year of hoping I have enough money to participate in the RMT, and wait until the day before to know if I've saved the funds to do it, or I can do what is done in so many other endeavors: make a business palm, calculate the realistic cost of what an adequate training program would be, and raise funds ahead of time, ensuring to my friends, family, sponsors and readers that I really will give it my all. That when I show up in April, I will have brought all that I have to give.

Whether what I bring is enough for the team or not is another story. I'll either have what it takes, what they need, or I won't, just like in every other selection. You can only bring what you have. But you do have control over how complete and well Rounded that which you bring is.

In other elite endeavors, there are programs in place that help athletes dedicate all of their time, effort and energy into being as successful as possible. There are scholarships to be won and training centers to live at. When you live at a training center, they put out the goal, and a path to that goal. As you work toward that goal, you can earn more support as the governing body sees value in you and helps clear the path along the way.

In ski teaching, this structure just does not exist. It's a solitary endeavor. No wonder it takes so many very very talented people 20 years of hard hard work, dedication and training to make it to a tryout. If you live on a shoe string, raising a family while you dedicate yourself to a job that breaks even if you aren't in training, and depletes the family savings if you are, not to mention taking time and energy away from your relationships, you only have so many resources in time and money that you can dedicate to your goal.

If you, like the dancers in many local ballet companies, come to a place in your training where you are willing to dedicate all your time and energy hopping to achieve a level of excellence that allows you to giveback to the greater whole, through teaching, or artistic expression, you find a benefactor or six who believe in the value of what you might bring if you achieve your dream.

to that end, it's not that I think I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I deserve to raise money while other people struggle. I think that we should all be supported in our endeavors! I hope that this project has raised awareness in the community that will help others who come after me to have a clearer path to training.

I do think that I owe it to my family, my community, the companies who believe in me and to myself to work as hard as I can, so that I come with everything I have to give. And I cant do it alone. And neither canny of the other very worthy, more qualified candidates than myself.

I hope over the years to help build a program in PSIA which functions this way for all instructors who are striving to share their passion with skiers everywhere. I would love to see a program that encourages, nationally, and values instructors, supports them, gives them a training center to go to, encouragement, emotional and financial support to chase their dreams.

It would be amazing to ferret out talent all over the country, and let those incredible teachers get the training their feet need, and get the incredible skiers the training their teaching needs.

How wonderful would it be to open up the field to the teams coach and manager, so that the plethora of seriously viable candidates was deep because people who are willing to work hard are not encumbered by the difficulty of committing all their time and money to struggling though the process on their own?

The sheer will and determination of those who show up at his process every year is inspiring. And while the process had changed this year, limiting the number of candidates that will be invited, the drive to be a viable invitee will still exist.

So to my friends and family who have stuck with me though this insane journey, thank you. And to those of you who have welcomed me into the skiing community, schooling me along the way, thank you! And to those of you who have told me the truth, felt brave enough or angry enough to have an honest, fierce conversation with me when I do something in a non traditional way, thank you so much. I am humbled by those teachings, and the ones that are hardest to swallow are usually the ones that are most valuable.

I'm so grateful for the teachers in my life, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to grow and become. I plan to work harder this year than ever before, And I'm grateful for the opportunity to belong to such an inspiring group of people. The national team has been inspiration for so many people for so many years, and I'm grateful to the teams, past and present that lit the fire in me.

Regardless of the results, I'm so grateful for the journey, and i want to give it all that I have. This is why I raise money for my training. This is why I'm happy to help you raise money for your training. And if it was surprising to see me put it out there, because while it's done in other sports, in business, in creative endeavors, it's not done (yet) in PSIA, I'm sorry to have taken you by surprise.

Thank you so much for your time, dedication and energy, for the lessons, positive and negative. I'm grateful.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Out for Adventure!

What are you doing this Thursday night? How about coming out to Denver to support an incredible program? Chris Anthony will be MCing the Out for Adventure fund raiser for the Children's Hospital Sports Program.

This is a program that gets kids skiing and snowboarding, sliding on the hill, helping them believe in themselves, opening doors for them to do things that otherwise would not even be possible. This program empowers kids with conditions like Cerebral Palsy to get out and experience what its like to feel freedom on skis.

Please, come join Chris and the friends of the Hospital, have an amazing and fun evening, and help support an incredible cause!



About the Sports Program:

The Hospital Sports Program helps kids find a new kind of courage on the slopes

"For Jackie, it can be hard to walk a block without pain," explains her dad. "So when she said she wanted to ski, I was worried. She has cerebral palsy. She can trip over uneven carpet fiber just crossing the room. But on the mountain, she's free. It's beautiful to watch her. And she just loves it."

Seventeen year-old Jackie smiles and adds, "The best part is the confidence I get looking back up what I just skied down. It's usually steep. And then I feel like I can do anything." And when her dad says, "I didn't think she could make it down. But now I see she's capable of a lot more than we thought. This is who she is, this is what she does," they both smile.
Kids find freedom from physical challenges

And that's huge. Because for the 60 or so kids who ski, snowboard or sit ski with The Children's Hospital Sports Program (TCH HSP) each season, the list of what they can't do can be long. TCH HSP gives kids with physical disabilities-cancer, amputations, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, head and spinal cord injuries-the chance to cross a few things off that list.

On Saturdays throughout the ski season, these kids and a team of volunteers hit the slopes at Winter Park under the tutelage of the National Sports Center for the Disabled. According to one mom, the first accomplishment of TCH HSP is giving kids the chance "to do something fun for a whole day, without mom and dad following them around, smothering them." So why do these often protective parents trust TCH HSP to take their kids skiing?
Our parents and families trust The Children's Hospital

Knowing their kids are skiing with The Children's Hospital is a big part of it. Our program, possibly the very first in the nation for kids with physical disabilities, began over 40 years ago. Today, there are programs all over the world based on our model.

For more of this article, click HERE.



About the event:
Join us on Thursday, June 17th at the Mile High Station for a night out supporting The Children’s Hospital Sports Program (HSP).

The benefit will be held at the Mile High Station near Invesco Field. Each ticket includes a wide variety of wine, local Wynkoop beer, and exquisite food.

With a special guest, sports themed fashion show, silent auction, emceed by Chris Anthony (Warren Miller Films) and Jamie Kim (reporter for Channel 9 News) and DJ Chris Cockroft there will be no shortage of entertainment.

Date:
Thursday, June 17, 2010

Time:
6:30pm - 11:00pm

Location:
Mile High Station

Street:
2027 West Lower Colfax Avenue

City/Town:
Denver, CO


RSVP or ask questions HERE.

Solace Healing Massage

I'm happy to announce that Solace Healing Massage is official! Here is what one recipient of massage this week said: "I don't want to jinx it, but this is honestly the best massage I've ever had!" Wow, thanks!

I'm so excited to be starting in this line of work, its a wonderful compliment to coaching, and I'm enjoying it so much! This is how I plan to pay for training from now on! So if you are an athlete who needs the aches of training smoothed out, email me!

Only $60/hr until Halloween!

Thank YOU!

WOW, we are on our way! Thanks, Amanda, for the donation to my training fund! I appreciate it so much! I am so looking forward to writing a great, funny article about getting my ass handed to me on a platter at race camp.

With Amanda's donation and being hired to write the article, we are getting there...

If YOU'd like to help: book an excellent massage by emailing me at katehowe@mac.com, shop at the HardHead store, (I get $5 for every t-shirt sold!) or scroll down on the right hand side, and donate to the training fund!

Thanks ALSO to my very awesome sister, Beth, who set me up in a MUCH better situation for massage therapy, so in the future, I'll need FEWER donations, because I can now travel to YOU with my MOST EXCELLENT massage table with beautiful, fluffy table warmer.

Thank you to the people in my life who help me bridge the gap to financial independence!! I'm looking so forward to the next year and all the promise it holds.

xoxo
kate

Permission to Let Go of Desire, Ambition, Anxiety, Fear. Time to FOCUS.

You've trained. You've trained however you trained and now, it's race day. You are at the top of your gnarly single track downhill (if you are a SuperHot chick like Aspen's Rachel Bauer), and you feel... hope that you will perform well, anxiety that you won't, desire to win, fear of failure... all of these emotions are distracting to the task at hand. What's the task at hand?

Do you really believe that suddenly you will gain skills that you didn't have before? BUT, if you let go of hope (does that sound strange?) and let go of desire, and let go of judgment and let go of anything that anticipates what IS TO COME, and FOCUS on the fact that you are ENOUGH, you have BROUGHT WHAT YOU'VE GOT, you may just perform better than you've ever performed in your life.

This moment, right now. What is happening? What is your goal? Ride with power focusing on the trail in front of you, feel your body and the bike moving under you. Be HERE now, not further down the trail at the element that worries you, but totally focused in the now, believing in the skills you brought with you. They will either be enough, or they won't.

The new HardHead T: I brought what I've got.

And if you train HardHead, what you've GOT is A LOT!

Bill Briggs T-Shirt is here!

Sometimes, fantastic things happen. Mr. Bill Briggs, the first man to do "big mountain skiing" in the US, first skied the Grand Teton in 1971, the year I was born. His story is incredible, and is recounted beautifully in the movie "Steep". One of the things I loved the most about it was when he said, "This isn't something I wanted to do for me and then be done. This is something, I thought, everyone should be doing!... It's too much fun to pass up."

The story is incredible. Because of the eye opening education I've been receiving on the history of skiing, especially steep and big mountain skiing, I realized that I am beholden to these amazing pioneers who broke trail before me and just want to share their experience.

I borrow from these guys all the time when i am out training: Maurice Herzog and his friends on the Annapurna expedition looked across ridges of peaks, and would go out several days, summiting over and over, just looking for the peak they wanted to climb. When I am tired hiking up the "M" trail, I think to myself, this is a hiccup on a bump on the road to the town months before Annapurna. Suck it up, see the ridge as your canvas, open your mind and your heart and don't be afraid to look across a whole mountain range, and find a way through it, knowing you are strong enough.

When I think of Bill Briggs, climbing the Grand, and being left at the last, steepest pitch unexpectedly, and climbing on, alone, never being daunted, or if he did, reminding himself of his goal, and making it, summiting, skiing. Alone. And then the photographs the next day to prove he'd been there. I think of hiking by myself, I think of skinning behind someone who is strong and won't stop, and I think, I have this in me. I can dig deep and find some of that, I can borrow it from Bill. I can be enough all by myself, hold onto my dreams, and continue moving toward them, even when I feel alone.

Today, I am mailing Mr. Briggs his t-shirt with grateful thanks. Check out the hard head store and get your own!

Do you have a favorite hero in Alpinism? Email me at katehowe at mac dot com (and please tell me who they are and why you love them, as my education is still, and will always be, a work in progress here...) and I'll ask them if I can make THEM into a HardHead t-shirt!

ALSO available in a woman's fitted ringer t! (TOO CUTE!)

HardHead T-Shirts are HERE!

My favorite t-shirt in the world when I was a kid was Go Climb a Rock. I got it in Yosemite when I was seven (1978!) Ever since I started writing this blog I've been sketching t-shirt ideas, as a way to help raise money to travel to training opportunities. I am also planing to give a portion of the proceeds of the "I Am" t-shirts to the cause of the choice of the individual named on the shirt.

It all came together watching Steep, and then reading Annapurna by Maurice Herzog. I was out running down Leverich Canyon, and I realized that one of the things I do when I want to ask myself to go harder, or further, is call up in my mind the will and determination of someone who inspires me! Its like Rent-A-Will.

I try to channel that piece of that person, tap into the thing that made them strong, and know that I can do more. These t-shirts are thank you's to the people that have paved the way before me, teaching me so much every day about what is possible. I have emailed Mr. Herzog, and several other people, Bill Briggs, Stephano De Bennedetti, Lynne Hill and John Long, along with some others, to get their permission to sell t-shirts with their names on them. I'll keep you posted!!

Thanks for looking, and in the next few days, keep your eyes peeled, there's LOTS more coming! If YOU have a favorite inspirational hero, send me a blurb and I'll consider it for a HardHead T-shirt!

PS. There are several colors to choose from, in both Men's and Women's t's, so visit the store and click away!

Thanks for asking! Here's the text that would be on the Maurice Herzog shirt:

in 1950, maurice was the first man to climb Annapurna, the first 8000m. peak ever summited. the expedition spent three months climbing several peaks over 7000m just looking for Annapurna. after climbing and summiting nearly every day for months, they climbed a totally unexplored mountain and achieved the summit. the descent is one of the most dangerous and harrowing accounts in mountaineering history. maurice dictated it from his hospital bed in paris.

i can see my goal. i can go farther.
i am maurice.

We watched Aspen Extreme and it RULED!

Okay, I have to admit that I saw this movie in the early 90s when it came out. I remember selling the neon Scott Schmidt full suit outfit when I worked at The North Face in Palo Alto. I am a big dork. We've established that.

I do remember the woman who played Brice was the penultimate sno-bunny with the super tight pants and the super poofy teeny jacket that started at your boobs and had a huge furry collar. Man, I wanted one of those outfits. If I make enough money in tips this year, I am so gonna get one of those and wear it to the next Academy. That would ROCK!

Anyhow, I also remember that it did'nt even occur to me that you don't try out to be an instructor at Aspen by going down some massive mogul hill and busting hellecoptors, and then were on the cover of Powder! magazine.

Right. There's that dorky part again. But you know whats funny? It was still a pretty good movie. In SPITE of myself, I found myself totally hooked on the story again.

And then there's that uncanny resemblance of T. J. Burke and Andy Docken...







If you haven't seen it, you must. I for one think we should make it an annual fundraiser for some local ski kids, put on cooperatively by Bridger and Big Sky at the Ellen once a year just before ski season, have a big early themed 90's party after the screening. What a blast.

Bonnie? Troy? what do you think???

**** UPDATE ****
Katie Fry, demo teams manager and sister to Megan Harvey, demo team member and author of the ATM, was the stunt skier for Brice! How cool is that??

Donation Love...

Fund Raising with Eagle Mount

Alright. I think it will take about $1200 to get to Race Camp and D Team Training camp. We are figuring $275 for gas, $350 for each camp, $45/night for a bunk, and then there's food. I am going to have to go in my old boots because I still don't have Alpine boots. That's next.

I am raising money several different ways, through my Ebay Store, teaching rock climbing at Spire here in Bozeman, ($40/hr for a private lesson with me), and donations through Paypal and First Giving.

The First Giving thing is neat, because 20% of what I raise through them will go to Eagle Mount here in Bozeman, an incredible organization that does therapeutic recreation. The skiing program is truly outstanding.

So tell your friends, pass this link along to anyone you think might be interested in donating, and thanks for reading!