** Editors note: This is a weekly column highlighting our ski coaches from around the country including elite coaches, college coaches, high school coaches, volunteer coaches, and learn-to-ski coaches. This is an effort to sample a diverse group of coaches and recognize the people who are the backbone of today’s skiers. If you would like to nominate a coach for an interview, please email robertwhitney99@hotmail.com. Please give coach’s name, email, phone, and a small paragraph describing the nominee. The more diverse, the better.
1. Age, coaching position?
I’m 27. Head Coach — Boulder Nordic Junior Racing Team(BNJRT).
2. Skiing background?
I grew up in upstate New York. There was a local alpine/nordic area that is owned by the town. All students in grades K-12 get a free ski pass I think that’s how it works these days. Right across from our school was a little 3-knolled t-bar hill with nordic trails on top. It was a great setup: get done with school, go skiing, and have a good time. I then went on to ski at St. Lawrence University, spending summers in Bend, Oregon, and then one winter coaching at Bowdoin College. I have been in Boulder ever since.
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/oldsitearchive/upload/061128-071810-Eric.Pepper.jpg width=450 height=298.125 border=1><BR><font size=1 face=verdana> A good day's work.</font></center><BR></p>
<p><b>3. Why coaching? You've been with Boulder Jr. Nordic for 4 yrs. What keeps you coming back? </b></p>
<p>Hmmm, fun I guess. I can’t really imagine doing anything else. Boulder is a great environment to work in as a coach. I’m very fortunate to have a team with a killer parent-volunteer force that handles the dirty work, allowing me to coach. I’ve also been working at Nathan Schultz’s new shop, Boulder Nordic Sport, which has been a great introduction to the retail side of things and high level ski preparation. Having all of these things available in one place where it’s pretty much sunny everyday and never rains is great. I’ll ski 6days/week from Thanksgiving until JO’s,and only have to brush snow off my car maybe four times. Now that’s hard to beat!</p>
<p><b>4. Tell us about Boulder Jr. Nordic and how it has grown since you started coaching? </b><br />
It’s bigger. A lot bigger! When I first came for interviews 5 years ago, they told me to expect a team size of 15-25 kids. This year we have 50+ skiers on the team and 6 assistant coaches. We’re also adding a second team vehicle for daily workouts and race transportation. It’s going be a pretty crazy year. We have a zillion 9-11 year olds skiing around. I’m trying hard to learn their names, without stepping on any of them!</p>
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