Team Summit Testimonials

 

Hi, my name is Stephanie, and I am a Team Summit addict. But I don’t want a 12 step program; the addiction is not only healthy but makes me happy. Really, I have been coaching in this program or its previous version for 19 years. I have three kids in the program, ages 12, 10 and 8. Team Summit has created an amazing supportive community for my family. My kids have a sense of belonging to a place, a club, a lifestyle. Team Summit provides my kids the inspiration to take care of themselves and their planet. I watch them become better citizens and better skiers through their experiences at Team Summit.

 

As a coach, I have been honored to work with children who become my friends. It is remarkable to watch kids achieve goals and improve themselves through hard work and determination. There is no greater thrill than to watch a child stand tall because they are proud of themselves. Succeeding at skiing empowers kids to believe they can do so much more in their worlds because they are participating in an adult sport. Honestly, most Team Summit athletes are better than the average recreational skier, how amazing is that for a confidence boost.

My name is Taggart Spenst. I am a 21-year-old sophomore at the University of Colorado. I ski race. It is not who I am but it is what I do.

 

I was fortunate to grow up in Summit County Colorado beginning the second I left Vail Valley Medical Center. Skiing has always been in my life but it took some memorable years for skiing to help shape me into the person I am today. I started skiing at the age of three at Copper Mountain Colorado and joined the Copper Mountain ski team at the age of seven. It turned out to be the easiest day care for my parents on the weekends because both of them worked for Copper. By the time I was a J5 I was the only one my age skiing both days on the weekend so I was put in a group of much older and "more mature" J4 boys. There where days when the last thing I wanted to do was go up and be forced to hang with these guys that acted like I was a 2 year old but, looking back at it, I can't picture a better character builder.

 

The word “family” with ski racing can be thrown around but it really had a lot of meaning when my family moved away from Summit County when I turned 16. I, of course, stayed for skiing with Team Summit and lived with an unbelievable host family. Through continued support from my host family the family of ski team kids whom I trained with every day plus traveled to races with, I continued to love what I was doing and stayed focused on my goals. At the age of sixteen, I was put into positions most kids do not have to deal with until 19 or 20. I traveled to Chile three times, Austria three times, Italy and New Zealand before turning twenty not to mention Canada numerous times and numerous US ski resorts.  My goals and my “skiing family” kept me focused and out of trouble.

 

Skiing taught me perseverance and to keep my dreams in view.  Skiing helped me develop a sense of responsibility that still drives me today. Ski racing has been so much more than the time spent between the start and finish. It has been life lessons one run at a time.