Foundation helps youngsters with free passes for fifth-graders

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation is planning to offer a free season pass at Whitefish Mountain Resort this year to any Whitefish fifth-grader who does not already have one.

"It's something I've thought about and bounced off of people for the past couple of years," said Paul Coe, one of the people behind the outreach effort.

The idea was conceived by Coe and other local parents, including Pat Carloss, David Dittman, Amy Eddy and Ron Matelich. Collectively, they have 12 children in the Whitefish school system, but none in the fifth grade.

The parents teamed up with Whitefish Mountain Resort and the Whitefish Community Foundation, providing seed donations to get the program started. Coe hopes more people will get involved and donate to the cause.

This year, the foundation will give a season pass to every child in the fifth grade who does not already have one. The program will be open to students of public, private, and home schools in Whitefish.

Coe hopes that this year's donations will allow the foundation to provide passes for all fifth-graders next year, and that further efforts will allow the program to expand to other grades in the future.

"The idea is to reach out to those kids that would otherwise not be participating in skiing and snowboarding this year, and make it easier for them to get into it," he said.

"We approached Whitefish Mountain Resort about putting this together, and they were very proactive about making it happen this year," Coe said. The resort has earmarked some of its yearly donation to the Whitefish Community Foundation for the program, and will offer the passes to the ski foundation at a reduced rate.

Coe is on the board of directors of Winter Sports Inc., the company that owns the resort, and was also involved in raising money to build the skate park at the Whitefish Armory. He has high hopes for this and other programs. "I think Whitefish can be an example. I think we can show the way to other communities," he said.

Fifth graders should expect to get a letter explaining the details of the program in the next few weeks.

For more information on the program, contact the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation at 863-9350 or Whitefish Mountain Resort at 862-2900.

Blacktail Mountain Ski Area near Lakeside has long offered free season ski passes to all fifth-graders.