START

Sky Tavern alpine race team

CORE VALUES

INTEGRITY - TEAMWORK - LEARNING - EXCELLENCE

Our Vision: to be a premier competitive snowsports organization rooted in a passionately engaged community of club and academy athletes and their families.

Our Mission: Sky Tavern race team provides world-class competitive snowsports for club and academy athletes with exceptional coaches, educators, and training venues, in a family-focused community.

Who We Are

Sky Tavern’s nonprofit junior ski program has a deep history that began with local school teacher and female athlete Marce Herz in 1948. She approached the private resort owner at the time, Keston Ramsey, and asked if she could bring a small group of children up to learn to ski at a discounted rate. That was the beginning of the country’s largest nonprofit volunteer-run ski program. Since then, the organization has taught over 125,000 youth how to ski or snowboard.

In 2023, Sky Tavern expanded its own Alpine Race Program by welcoming level 500 coach Mike Savage to develop the Sky Tavern Alpine Race Team, commonly called START. Through START, athletes will have an opportunity to learn and develop their skills as alpine athletes with world-class training in a safe environment that is affordable and accessible to all.  

The START team at Sky Tavern is a five, three, or two day training program from October through March or longer if the season/competitions allow. Different training regimens exist for all ages and levels, from U10 to U21. There is also a Junior Ski Weekend Race Program for new and developing athletes to experience pre-competition ski development and a high school program curated for athletes pursuing competition at various educational institutions. 

The START team trains on their own private homologated course on their home mountain. Race camps include locations such as Copper Mountain, CO, and Mammoth Mountain, CA, among other training venues that suit the team’s training needs. The program is designed to meet the different individual needs of their athletes through world-class coaching, physical conditioning, mental well-being and support in a team environment. 

Sky Tavern is building a world-renowned Alpine Program that will give all youths a unique opportunity for world-class training regardless of income. Sky Tavern believes in Marce Herz’s vision: “Sports are good for everyone.” Offering this extraordinary training program to athletes will help set them up for incredible success on the mountain and in their lifelong endeavors.