Shredders Use Fame to Plug Causes

Reputed rebels now revel in doing good
By Jason Blevins
The Denver Post
Posted: 01/26/2009 12:30:00 AM MST

ASPEN – When his dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer five years ago, Steve Fisher tapped his fame as a pro snowboarder to promote prostate cancer awareness and raise money to fund a cure.

“I still don’t know that I’m that popular enough for that kind of stuff, but I do it because, you know, otherwise I’m just a total (loser). I like giving back,” said the 26-year-old Breckenridge snowboarder who won X superpipe in 2007. “I think athletes are a lot more selfless these days. Snowboarding has really transformed from the party, rebel sport into being this giant platform for professional athletes.”

As snowboarding sheds that mutinous mirage, its most prominent athletes are parlaying their blossoming status as icons and heroes into banners for a variety of causes.

Some riders embrace environmental issues and others cancer research through groups like Athletes for a Cure. Many work to bring more youth – especially inner-city kids – up to the hill for a taste of the board-riding life.

Norwegian board king Andreas Wiig works closely with a Boys and Girls Club in California. Fisher works with Eagle County’s SOS Outreach Society, which helps to bring city kids to the mountains to ride.

“It’s really neat to see kids who otherwise wouldn’t have a clue of what snowsports are, to be getting involved,” Fisher said.

Kelly Clark, who won gold in snowboarding’s Olympic debut in 2002, is working to create opportunities for snowboarders who could compete on a global stage.

Her Kelly Clark Foundation will establish a scholarship program for snowboarders aspiring to attend mountain schools, where curricula focus on winter sports.

“I was looking at the cost of mountain schools and what it would take to pursue the dream of being a professional snowboarder, and it was unattainable. I wanted to change that,” said Clark, 25. “I realize I’m in a position of influence, and if I can use that to draw attention to something, it’s a good thing.”

Clark’s fellow Olympian Hannah Teter is funneling tens of thousands of dollars every year to a small village in Kenya. Teter, who won gold in women’s halfpipe in the 2006 Olympics, went into the Olympic spotlight knowing that success would allow her to trumpet a cause.

Her Hannah’s Gold maple syrup donates sales proceeds to the Kenyan village of Kirindon. The Olympic gold- hued syrup has supported Kirindon’s schools, promoted sustainable farming techniques, bought bicycles and trained locals in home care for HIV patients.

She recently joined with World Vision to develop a water-purification project in the village.

Teter donates all her prize winnings to the Kenyan project, and this year she has pledged to raise $100,000 for Kirindon.

“It was so beautiful to see these kids who don’t have anything, and their outlooks are so positive,” said Teter, who turns 22 on Tuesday. “When I went there, it was a reminder of that nonrealistic material views that everyone in America has. It’s cool to step away from that and focus on the more important things.”

Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen’s Olympic champion snowboarder, also realized after her 2006 Olympic debut that she had a stage to speak about her most cherished cause, the environment.

“I’ve always been an outdoor person, and the snow is my livelihood,” said Bleiler, 27.

Bleiler works with her sponsors, such as K2 and Oakley, to generate money for global-warming education and products made of recycled and recyclable materials.

Bleiler’s annual Covergirl Snow Angels Invitational competition has become a workshop on environmental causes as much as it is a snowboard contest.

“It’s just a great opportunity to get the best women snowboard riders together to educate and come together and brainstorm about ways we can help save the environment and reduce our carbon footprint,” she said. “We all travel around the world chasing snow, and we see the effects of climate change firsthand, so it’s something we as snowboarders can very easily talk about, and we are passionate about ways we can help.”

Tramadol P111

Posted on: January 26, 2009

Permalink | Posted in: Gretchen Bleiler, Press, Snowboarding |

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Shredders Use Fame to Plug Causes