The Steamboat Ski Week proved to be eclectic and fun. VP Scott will tell you more about it below. I want to talk to you about some more personal issues.
On Saturday (Feb. 8) NAASF President Rocky Borgh was piloting a flight out of Europe on his way home to the U.S. Shortly after heading out over the North Atlantic he was experiencing a severe headache. The copilot declared an emergency and diverted to Shannon, Ireland where Rocky received emergency surgery for a brain aneurism. He is now stable and resting comfortably while recovering. We were all shocked, as it was only a few weeks ago that we were all skiing, partying, and having fun in Big Sky. I want you all to join me and the rest of the TEAAM in wishing Rocky all the very best on his road to recovery, and to always remember that life can change in an instant. We must cherish all the good times, fun parties, and great friendships that we have every day. GET WELL ROCKY!
As you remember, our own Dan Rigterink experienced a head injury in a crash he had at Race Camp in December. After Many days in the hospital he returned home to begin his recovery journey. On Wednesday (Feb 5) he experienced a small relapse due to a buildup of pressure on his brain. After a trip to the hospital where they put in a small drain, he feels much better now and is again working on his recovery. We “FaceTimed” him from the TEAAM meeting and he was in good spirits, although he claims he can’t remember that $20 he owes me. Hmm! DAN GET WELL and join us again soon.
On a positive note, during the TEAAM meeting we took time to celebrate Tom Stone’s 80 Birthday! Tom has been such an assett to our club for so many years. As a past President, snowboarder and now skier, he has contributed more than most.
While I often brag about being the “Senior” man in the club because I started in 1978, (Tom started in the 90’s), I was happy to see the smiling face of our true #1 Kathy Lambert-Wood, (Who started in 1976) once again skiing down the hill for the first time since her fall and injury last year. Welcome back, love you Kathy.
So I guess that relegates me to, well, nothing, except being so proud to be a part of this organization for many years, I DO cherish all the memories, and wish all the best to all of you for many years to come. Ski Safe, and have fun,
Rick iPrez, (Grand PooBah)
A LITTLE HELP PLEASE!
Gang, it is time to reflect on the past, and look to the future.
Please think back and put in a nomination for this years “Spirit of American” “Tuck Kelleher” Award. This goes to someone in the Club that you feel has gone Above and Beyond to contribute to our success, and achievement. There is a list of past award recipients on our website here: Spirit of American Award Link Remember you can only win this award once, so nominate someone new.
Now think forward. We are always looking for new people to help lead this club into the future who has fresh ideas, a good communicator and organizational skills. The Vice President position will be open next year and If you are interested, or know someone who is, or if you think there is someone that you would like to see as a club officer, please let us know. If no nominations are received from our members at large, Eric Jenson has agreed to be our Vice President next year and a membership vote will not be necessary.
Our Bylaws require that the nominees for the “Tuck” award and the Vice President position be sent to our secretary 2 weeks prior to our last ski week. This year, that is no later than March 16th, 2025.
We had plenty of everything. Awesome ski conditions, great parties, world class ski racing (OK, well close... ;-) and some pretty cold temps. The cold didn’t bother us because we were busy having too much fun. Powder? Oh yea, but for those of us racing, it was actually TOO much powder. The A’s spent Thursday morning pretending to be snow cats.
John can give the race results, but we held our own on the courses. Free skiing must have been phenomenal!
The Team Dinner at Howelson Hill was very special. Great food, views of future Olympians doing night training right outside our windows, and really good food. For once, my bar bill was reasonable, because it was BYOB :-), but I think everyone was prepared. We introduced three newcomers, Darcy Brown, Nick Kuklenski, and Jennifer Byrne, and they all received an entry to a future NAASF event. Another newcomer, Jessica Mendez had to leave early, so we will introduce her next time. In addition, some of our most “senior” team members that we haven’t seen in a while were present.
Best of luck to all headed to Niseko! Unfortunately, we can’t attend this year, but Kasha and I hope to see you all in Telluride, it should be a great event at a great venue. Keep on talking up the Team every time you go to work!
Scott
From your "A" TEAAM Captain
Captain Eidmann is out flying, so I will give you a quick recap for our “A” TEAAM.
Our men put up a valiant effort! In the GS, KJ (3), John Eidmann (5), and Mike Williams (8) grabbed valuable points, while Jim Hershey, Eric Jensen, and Scott McKee backed them up with Excellent performances. I am happy to announce that once again Rick Schreiner and Jim Tullos had the fastest times for men 75 and older!
In the Slalom our guys dominated. With John Eidmann (3), KJ (4) and Veep Scott McKee (5), we had great point totals.
Our weak spot is that we only had one brave Female fighting the Delta Red Wave. Ellen Wardrop came in 6th GS and 5th Slalom to be our only point winner.
All in all, a valiant effort, but we need to keep recruiting some new, young female talent. Meanwhile, Thank you Ellen, you are our HERO!
Reporting for John, Rick
From your "B" TEAAM Captain
Hey Super Beeees!
Another winter wonderland and fun racing for all! We had a strong showing in Women’s GS with Patty Jordan finishing #2 in Giant Slalom. Way to go Patty!
In all, AA had four in the top ten: Patty, me, Jennifer Naylor and Carol Kerr.
In women’s slalom, three finished in the top ten: me, Jennifer Naylor and Emme White!
Men’s GS had three standouts, Chad Wright took 4th place overall, and Rick Wilson and John Quinn placed 1st and 3rd in the senior division. Congratulations guys!
In Slalom, Chad Wright was in 6th place with Rick Wilson placing 2nd in the senior division and Ted Rutherford right behind him in 3rd.
It’s great seeing our numbers grow and in the race to beat Delta, we’re not very far behind. We’re currently in second place with United creeping up behind us, so keep getting the word out there how much FUN we’re having and get your fast friends out here!
Looking forward to the legendary skiing Niseko has to offer. For those of you who haven’t experienced a WASC event before, due to the high number of Teams, we are limited to 9 men and women for ALPINE Ski Racing. If you are interested in participating in the NORDIC Ski Racing, let us know! (Tell Carol) We are always looking for eager participants. I’m hoping we can have ourselves another epic team showing for that! The rest of us are there to cheer our skiers on as well as explore the terrain, enjoy the parties, and make friends with your global airline peers. What isn’t limited is FUN!
Captain Ellen
From your Snowboard TEAAM Captain
Hey Snowboarders,
Another awesome week at Steamboat Springs! We had a great turnout and plenty of fresh powder—pretty much a dream scenario.
Big shoutout to the ladies for showing up and locking in some team points for AA. Jennifer, Tamara, Paula, and I all had solid runs, and we were stoked to have Jessica Mendez and Jennifer Byrne join us. Can’t wait to see you both tearing it up on the racecourse!
As always, Dennis and Jim came through with strong performances, keeping our team in the game. And huge thanks to Brian (The Bacon) for showing up to free ride and support—appreciate you!
With five of us finishing in the top 10, we’re holding our own against the new young talent. No way we’re just handing it over—they’re gonna have to work for it!
You all rock, AA Snowboarders!
See you in Japan,
Hollie
From your Social Chairman
As everyone else has said, Steamboat was great. The snow, the racing, the parties, and on and on. The social Highlight was our TeAAm dinner in the Hall of Champions at Howelson Hill.
Now some of us will be headed to Japan for the World Airline Ski Championships.
