Last Monday, riding the lift out of White Cap base at Sunday River, we could see workers setting up fencing on Obsession and knew it was for the Nor-Am Cup Super Series wrapping up today.

The men were there for slalom and giant slalom races. They will then travel to Sugarloaf, where they will be joined by the women for downhill and super-G races Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. For some, including Cumberland’s Sam Sweetser, this is one more opportunity to move up to the U.S. Ski Team.

These races in Maine was a reminder of a recent story about ski team funding. The report said that some skiers would receive bills for expenses, in some cases as much as $20,000. The report also indicated the U.S. Ski Team had fallen on tough financial times.

I’ve mentioned in the past that the team had failed to print the annual media guide for two years. A sign of financial distress? I decided that this was of interest, so I made a few calls.

One was to Chip LaCasse. The former Vermont ski coach is in charge of fundraising. Because it was not his responsibility, Chip couldn’t give me specifics of any cuts, but he did provide some insight.

First, it’s important to realize the scope of the team and the governing body, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. We hear most about the Alpine team, but also cross country, disabled, freestyle, Nordic combined, jumping and snowboarding come under its umbrella. That’s a total of 14 men’s and women’s teams. All of these athletes receive support in some form.

Next, I talked with Tom Kelly, VP of Marketing and Communications. Knowing what prompted my call he immediately assured me, “The team is in extraordinarily healthy financial condition.” Kelly pointed out that funding is up over last year and up substantially.

The annual operating budget is $26 million, which covers everything from coaches, to sports medicine and transportation. The question comes down to which athletes get funding and at what level. To understand this, it is important to know the mission and goal of the team, “to create athletic success.”

It was explained that it is a simple ladder system. Skiers and snowboarders have to earn their funding. The elite athletes at the top are fully funded. Using the Alpine team as an example, the A team racing in World Cup gets funding. The B and C team members have to pay their own expenses. Except for the few racing Europa Cup, it’s domestic travel – still costly, but not like staying in expensive ski resorts in the Alps.

The success of this incentive type financing is evident in this season’s record. Through the early season, 10 skiers have finished in the top 10 in World Cup competition, and seven have been on the podium. Both Kelly and LaCasse noted that cross-country funding increased this year, and the U.S. recorded its first World cup win since Bill Koch. Kikkan Randall is the first American female to win a World Cup race.

It comes down to this. The top contenders are fully funded. Athletes who didn’t achieve performance results, will have to pay for travel and lodging. However, Kelly pointed out that all the athletes get coaching, sports medicine assistance and benefit from the team’s infrastructure.

One area where fundraising has increased is development.

There are 400 clubs and ski academies that produce competitive skiers and boarders. Skiers and coaches from these entities will attend educational sessions in Park City, Utah, and return with more tools to use.

A key part of this will be the new Center of Excellence, slated for opening in 2009. Some have criticized this expense, but the figures look pretty good. The goal was to create an endowment for construction and future operation. It is expected to cost $22.5 million to build the center, but $60 million was raised over and above the operating budget. The excess has returned more than a $1 million annually to the operating budget.

College is another area of concern for skiers when considering trying out for the U.S. Ski Team. The ski academies such as CVA are so good at college prep, virtually 100 percent of their grads go on to college – the exception being those who make the U.S. team. Recognizing this, the team established an education program in 2003, which allows team members to attend Westminister College in Utah for free. A professional educator from Syracuse University has been brought in to work with the athletes.

There is a lot more to the U.S. Ski Team funding, but that will have to come after I receive a report with the actual numbers. In the meantime, we should remember one thing. Of all the countries in the world that we compete with, our team is the only one that is totally self-funded with no government support.