The Summer of Dreams: fundraising, mountain adventures and baking!

Megan McJames

September 15, 2012

Time flies when you are chasing your dreams and this summer was full of fundraising, mountain adventures and baking!

Independent Ski Racing LLC. is organized and all members are gearing up for the winter season!!! We have four athletes (Hailey Duke, Katie Hartman, Lena Andrews and myself), two ex-Swedish national team coaches (Helmut Krug and Jonas Lind) and a technicion/team manager (Pat Andrews).

Our first training camp together as a team, Mt. Hood, OR.

Great conditions to get a lot of repetition on the new GS and SL boards!

Outdoor hike and ice bath, Mirror Lake, OR
(left to right: me, Hailey, Lena and Katie)

After earning a giant slalom world cup spot for the upcoming season and feel that I owe it to myself to take advantage! For me, Independent Ski Racing LLC. is about making fast turns, pure and simple. I have worked my whole life for an opportunity on the world cup and to give myself the best chance for success against international competition next season I have been fundraising, working out, meeting with a sports psychologist from Pyramid Performance consulting and traveling to Mount Hood for on-snow training camps. My ultimate goal is to compete at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. To do this, I will need to re-earn a world cup spot for the 2014 season by scoring world cup points next season or winning another title on the North American Cup circuit.

Fundraising….

I have been working really hard this summer to make the financial side of this this project possible and I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me and my teammates so far! “It’s a beautiful thing when a career and a passion come together.”

Since Independent Ski Racing is a limited liability corporation we are fundraising under the Athlete Project and each athlete is shooting to raise $50,000 to cover the equipment and logistical expenses involved with traveling the World Cup Circuit this upcoming season! All funds raised go directly to our travel, training and racing expenses. If you haven’t already, please check out http://athlete-project.com/megan-mcjames/ to learn more, donate or share sponsorship opportunities! *Donations of $250 or more are tax-deductible!

Thank you to all of the Park City ladies who attended my two Salaam Clothing Trunk Shows and my mom and Margie for their help organizing these events. We had a blast trying on cloths, drinking wine and eating appetizers!