Nordic youth skiers raise nearly $9K for winter expenses

Take heart, Libby. There are still kids out there who prefer to pay their way to achieve their dreams.

About a dozen young members of the Kootenai Cross-Country Ski Club have their sights set on various goals of new uniforms, paying for race expenses and even a trip to Sweden to compete internationally.

So, this group of 12- to 17-year-olds in the heat of the summer, split, stacked, delivered and sold firewood to earn funds to further their winter love of Nordic skiing.

In all, these snow lovers raised $8,850 under the watchful eyes of their coach.

“These kids were really courteous,” said firewood customer Kathy Nielsen. “They were really working, all of them. I even paid them a little bit more for them to stack the wood up near my house. I’d recommend them and their work to anyone, yes.”

Kootenai Cross-Country Ski Club President and Nordic Coach Ben Scott said it was a good second year effort.

“We delivered about 45 cords of wood in July,” Scott said. “We got a lot of help. We appreciate the assistance of the (U.S.) Forest Service and Everhart Logging for donating the wood.”

Scott said some of the skiers hope to make a trip to Sweden in 2023 to compete and some of the funds will go to help defray some of those travel expenses.

Members of the club include Colter Anderson, Reed Scott, Katie Scott, Bergen Fortner, Ledger Fortner, Greysen Thompson, Casey Rusdahl, Cody Watson, Rowen Sherbo, Charlie Webber, Eli Moore, Silas Moore and Josiah Moore.

The Kootenai Cross-Country Ski Club operates a course containing about 13 miles of trails just off Granite Creek Road near the Flower Creek Reservoir.

For more information on the club, contact Ben Scott at 291-8091 or our website at KootenaiNordic.com.