Hello!
It's just one short week until I leave for northern Finland and the beginning of the World Cup season. I have had a fantastic summer of training and have been able to put all signs of Mono well behind me. I have had some very encouraging results in running races and time trials over the training season and am looking forward to putting it on the snow and seeing what I can do there.
I’m raising funds through crowdfunding, on RallyMe. The idea is that athletes and teams can reach out to a large circle of their friends, family, friends of friends, and fans and ask everyone for a small amount of support.
As an unfunded athlete, I am not only required to pay for my own room, board, and travel, but also for a ski serviceman (wages, room, board, travel). For one period of racing (Thanksgiving to Xmas) this will cost close to $15,000
Why I Need Funding
After starting the season last year with some of the best results of my career, I was ready to fight for a relay medal with my many of my strong teammates on the U.S. Women’s Team. Unfortunately, I caught a virus around the New Year and struggled to find the shape I had at the beginning of the season. Determined to make the most of the Olympics, I raced anyway only to find the virus had not left my body. Limping my way through the rest of the season, I finally returned home to learn I had Mononucleosis. While I was happy to have a diagnosis and path forward, I was disappointed to learn I would no longer be a member of the U.S. Ski Team. However, I have unfinished business on the ski trails and I determined to be competitive on the World Cup and at World Championships this season. I have had a fantastic summer of training and am looking forward to getting back to racing.
More About Me
I tried out cross country skiing at the age of 14 after giving in to my Mom's pleas to find a winter sport for the year. Moms do in fact know best and the rest is history. I started spending more and more hours skiiing and more and more time thinking about skiing, dreaming up some big goals, and plotting the path to get there. After becoming an 8x All-American at Dartmouth College, I had Olympic Dreams to fullfill. I packed up and moved to Anchorage, Alaska to join the Alaska Pacific Universtiy Nordic Ski Center. Fueled by a great coaches and hard working teammates, I started finding success nationally before finally making my first World Championship team in 2015. I made my second team in 2017 and then found myself on the 2018 Olympic Team.
Outside of skiing, I completed a Masters of Arts in teaching at Alaska Pacific University. I am an active ambassador of Fast and Female, a non-profit working to empower girls through sport putting on events across the country for girls to try new sports and learn from their role models. I work with Skiku, a non-profit seeking to engage rural Alaska in skiing and outdoor activity. I spend a week as a ski coach in rural Alaska and designed a ski curriculum to allow rural communtities to start a ski program without an experienced skier on the ground.
Join My Team!
I am forever grateful for my club team, Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center, for providing me the support to continue racing no matter how big the obstacle in the way, however, APUNSC can not provide winter racing support. As a result, I would like to grow my support network and invite you to join my team! Please share my story #RahRahRosie
Other Ways to Help
Financial help is important, but there are so many other ways to help.
+Donate Airline Miles
+Talk to your company about sponsoring an Olympic Athete
+Share this Rally with your friends
+Watch Cross Country World Cup races on TV this winter (check out NBC Sports and Olympic Channel)
+Get your tax deduction by donating to my club, APUNSC at www.apunordic.com