Junior Nationals 2018

What a year! It’s hard to believe that I’m ⅔ of the way through my Senior year. And it’s even harder to believe that I only have about 3 weeks left of my high school cross-country skiing career. This year has been one of my favorite years since I joined the team. This season, I have travelled to our annual West Yellowstone Thanksgiving camp, ventured to Alaska to compete with top racers at Senior Nationals, and raced my heart out in my final few Intermountain qualifying races in Sun Valley and McCall. Two weeks ago in Sun Valley, I raced with Olympic athlete Noah Hoffman who pushed me hard in the 10k Classic. I ended up winning this race for the U18/U20 category and was able to secure my spot on the Intermountain Junior National Racing Team.

I returned from the final qualifying race in McCall last night where I was named to the Junior National team officially. So, in two weeks, I will be heading to Junior Nationals in Soldier Hollow, Utah. That week (March 5-10) will be my last and strongest high school races. I am so excited to race these last few races with the Intermountain crew in SOHO, a venue I know how.

This year, I am hoping that you all, my friends and family, will help support my racing week. In previous years we have had to pay airfare and travel costs, but this year I am only traveling via vans, effectively lowering costs for my family.  However, this is also be a great time to tell you about my Senior Project this spring! After Junior Nationals, I will be heading up to Northern Alaska to volunteer with the program Skiku to teach Native Alaskan kids in rural communities how to Nordic ski. I will be dedicating two weeks to this volunteer program and would appreciate any support you can send to help me utilize my patience and skills in Nordic skiing to spread the love of the sport to children in Alaska.

It would be great if I combine these two massive achievements and projects and raise money for Junior Nationals and my Senior Project. Any and all money will be superbly helpful and I thank you so much for your support.


Your local athlete,

Henry Raff