In a recent post we discussed our impressions of the Outdoor Retailer tradeshow; mainly one of inspiration at how the industry is working together to get more people outside (to put it simply).
Atlas Snow-Shoe Company has always been driven to get snowshoes into more hands, and get others out enjoying their winter playground. We partner with incredible non-profits, events, and resorts, who share our passion for the outdoors.
Here, we’re highlighting our Atlas Athletes, aka our ambassadors, and all the good they do for their communities. It takes a village to achieve our goals, and we’re thankful that we have these ambassadors not just to our brand or the sport, but to serving those in need.
Adam Chase, Atlas Team Captain
I’ve served as the President of the American Trail Running Association for just over 20 years and, in that capacity, have worked on a number of snowshoe-related matters, access to trails, trail safety and etiquette, and how the mountain, ultra and trail running communities may be best served. ATRA deals with maximizing the quantity and quality of trails in the US and reaches out to like minded organizations for cooperative alliances that nuture environmental protection, education, recreational participation, and supports elite trail runners and snowshoers.
For example, ATRA works closely with the US Snowshoe Associaton (USSSA) where I’m a volunteer of the governing body-and trail running-related businesses. ATRA’s race calendar, which includes many snowshoes races, is likely the most visited event page for trail runners.
Geoff Roes, Atlas Athlete
The Arctic Winter Games, which began in 1970 and takes place every two years, are a collection of athletic competitions for northern nations and cultures from around the world. This year’s games will be taking place next month in Hay River, YT, Canada. This is essentially the Junior Olympics for people of the far north.
For the last couple months I have been working with a group of athletes who will be representing Team Alaska in the snowshoe events. We have largely been focusing on improving their overall speed and fitness, but many of the kids have never really done much snowshoeing before so a lot of the focus is simply on getting them comfortable on the shoes. This is especially challenging considering that for the competitions at the games they are required to wear traditional wooden snowshoes with fully natural fiber bindings and footwear. Lamp wicking and Mukluks being the gear of choice.
More than anything though we encourage them to get out and simply enjoy being outside moving their bodies in a healthy and encouraging environment. With this in mind, many of our practices lately have consisted of strapping on our snowshoes and going out into the mountains for several hours simply to share this time together and see what we see. Do these outings make them stronger athletes even though they are very different than what they will be doing at the games and there’s not much focus on pace or distance or technique? Absolutely. More importantly though, they teach them how satisfying and worthwhile it can be to get out and have fun doing something healthy, while really just playing around in the snow with friends. This isn’t something I quite understood when I was their age (13-17), but in being a firm believer in the value of this now, it feels really exciting to me to be able to pass this on to them.
Sarah McMahan, Atlas Athlete
When I was in elementary school I had physical education class every day. Kids need exercise to get their wiggles out, refocus, and prepare the brain to learn. So it’s shocking to me that today many elementary schools don’t get funding for a PE teacher, which is the case at the elementary school where my kids go.
In 2016 myself and other concerned parents created the Physical Education and Wellness non-profit organization for Incline Elementary School. Our goal is to raise funds to support a full-time PE teach and wellness programs at the school. Fundraising efforts include and annual jogathon, 5k color run, raffles, and anything needed to pay for various programs. In addition to the PE teacher, we provide a Harvest of the Month program introducing fruits and vegetables and healthy eating, free fluoride dental treatments, and before and after school athletic activities. Winter acitivities include snowshoeing and nordic skiing for the kids.
Teaching kids at a young age to be active and healthy is both fun and rewarding.
Thank you to all of our Atlas fans for supporting outdoor and health initiatives. If you volunteer, support, or are involved in an important non-profit, make sure you share it with us!