Let’s face it, heavy breathing, frosty faced athletes in tights gliding through the snow covered woods for kilometers on end with perhaps no one else in sight is a decidedly un-ESPN friendly sport. We enjoy (depending on how low the mercury is) watching our friends and family blast out the starting gate and into the woods at races each winter, and we drool over the perfect technique of the nordic gods and goddesses in what rare Eurosport coverage we can get our hands on. However, most Americans probably find cross-country skiing an absurdly non-spectator sport. The nature of the sport as it exists today results in very low media coverage in the United States. As Zack Simons, director of the upcoming Project Elevate laments, “The average American would have absolutely no desire to watch a bunch of lycra clad ski-runners race off in to the forest at 30 second intervals if our races happened to be covered on television.”
www.fullthrottlexc.com. The current plan of action is to negotiate partnership or sponsorship deals with prospective companies. The hope is to attract several ski-industry companies, but to bring in companies from outside the industry as well. Project Elevate aspires to restructure the nordic skiing environment in America to attract more skiers and provide more opportunities for those striving towards the top. The current system cannot support a large number of skiers through years of training and the U.S. national team has limited resources. Project Elevate hopes to fill the need by creating professional teams, which will produce a larger pool of elite racers and elevate American cross-country skiing.
