Skiing and Alaska are like peanut butter and jelly- they just belong together! Skiing is a part of the Alaskan way of life. Be it Nordic or Alpine we teach our children how to ski almost as soon as they learn to walk.

On the Nordic side there are Jr. Nordic programs, elementary club teams, and Junior High and High school racing teams. We have local town series races almost every weekend in the winter months and send our youth athletes all around the state to compete in the Besh Cups. We are the only state that fields their own team to the Junior Nationals competition.

Anchorage also has a rich tradition of Alpine skiing, with youth programs at the local schools, weekend youth races and a world class mountain to train on at Alyeska just down the road.

Alaska has produced some of the the most successful skiers in the US, including multiple Olympians. It is impossible to comprehend that with all of our focus on ski training and development for our youth that our state university system would no longer have a ski program for our homegrown skiers to race for. Our Alaskan skiing programs are widely supported by their local community and very successful at what they do.

The proposed plan to drop UAF and UAA ski teams will not only hurt Alaskan youth looking for an in state option to continue their education and ski career but will also hurt the wider US skiing community in general. There are too few options for collegiate skiing offered already, we cannot afford to lose two more.

Please let the NCAA committee know that we as Alaskan skiers do not support the UAA and UAF proposed wavier! There is a ten sport minimum for a reason. They need to uphold their own rules and protect the student athletes they were created to serve. Keep collegiate skiing in Alaska where it belongs! #savealaskaskiing