The energy and heart of Live PC Give PC were in full swing Friday evening as SOS Outreach hosted a happy hour at the Patagonia store. The room was filled with friends, volunteers, alumni and many other familiar faces who are or have been involved with the nonprofit.The highlight of the evening was the launch of a limited-edition ski, a result of a partnership between SOS Outreach, Nordica and Christy Sports. Local SOS alumni Jamie Rosales and Vicente Flores were two of the five SOS alumni who embarked on the project.The cohort first met in August 2023 to begin working on the project, said Randy England, director of brand marketing at Christy Sports.“They worked with the design team. We sent it off to the factory in Austria to get made. While that was happening, they were working with me, and we were developing the marketing strategy, the go-to-market plan and what the messaging would be,” said England. “It’s all based on the direction of the cohort, … these five amazing SOS alumni.”The cohort chose a ski that they knew people enjoyed riding, said Flores. “Something that you know men and women are going to enjoy, an all-mountain ski, something that everybody can ride, whether they’re a beginner or already advanced,” he said. “It’s a great ski.”SOS Outreach alumni Jamie Rosales and Vicente Flores get a first look at the skis they designed with Nordica in collaboration with SOS Outreach and Christy Sports. Credit: Courtesy of Alex Mager“​​The Nordica SOS Outreach Enforcer 94 has … a Limited-Edition graphic, with all profits donated to SOS Outreach,” according to the Christy sports website. “Only 70 pairs of these will be made and the funds generated will be dedicated to support the SOS mission of getting kids and teens out on snow who might not otherwise have the chance and pairing them with mentors as part of a supportive community.” By selling the 70 pairs of limited-edition skis, SOS Outreach will be able to support 20 participants through their multi-year program, said Rosales. The SOS program combines on-mountain skill building and in-community leadership development.“SOS has definitely helped me not only grow on the mountain, but off the mountain,” said Rosales. “They’ve helped me gain a lot of interpersonal skills, they’ve helped me with my academic skills, my public speaking skills, they’ve helped me gain the confidence I need to become a better version of me.”With the mission to “change young lives, building character and developing leadership through mentoring outdoors,” the SOS Outreach program currently serves 600 kids in the Park City community. Their outdoor-based mentorship programs aim to create a sense of belonging for all youth. Flores, a freshman in high school when SOS Outreach launched in Park City, said he was told about the program by his health teacher. The teacher told the students about the program and how it was designed to make snow sports more accessible, affordable and approachable.“So I, with a buddy of mine, were like, why not?” said Flores. “We live here in Park City, and we didn’t grow up skiing or snowboarding, just because it was super expensive to do at a young age. So why not? If they’re going to make it a possibility for us to do it, why not take advantage of living here? And so we did, and ever since then, I’ve been snowboarding.”Flores went on to complete the entire SOS program and became a mentor to younger generations. He is a snow sports pioneer in his family, with his nieces and nephews now following his lead. Flores now works at a snowboard shop while attending the University of Utah as a mechanical engineering student. As he continues to pursue his passions, he said he hopes the future holds a combination of the two worlds he loves: snow sports and engineering.“SOS has opened a lot of doors for me and made me realize that working in an industry like this is possible, which I had no idea before,” said Flores. Similarly, Rosales has fully embraced the SOS program. She holds a great deal of gratitude toward it and what it has become for her and her cohort, who participated in the ski project with Nordica and Christy Sports.“This project is a full circle moment for me,” said Rosales, “because ever since I was a kid, I’ve always rented skis, that was my main way of getting onto the mountain. And so when I bought my first pair of skis, when my family bought them, the main thing I chose was the color. I was like, ‘I don’t care, I just want that one because it looks nice.’ So being able to choose the colors, choose what kind of ski, choose the length and all the aspects that go into it was a really cool moment.”As of Saturday morning, SOS Outreach Park City had received donations totaling more than $40,000, nearly doubling their goal for the Live PC Give PC day of giving. “I think that everyone in this room has experienced the transformative power of being on snow,” said Erin Reynolds, program coordinator with SOS Outreach Park City. “Through all of you, we’re able to share this with some of the best kids in our community. Now, more than ever, we’re inundated with a world full of fear and hate, and it’s thanks to your support that we’re able to show kids that they belong and that they matter.”A similar event will take place in Denver, Colorado, at a Christy Sports store, where the three other cohort members involved in the project will be presented with their skis.“Being a part of this is definitely a start of something new. It’s a seed for the next generation of skiers and the people in SOS to know that our voices are welcomed in this community,” said Rosales. “The skiers all look different now, it’s not your quote-on-quote average skier, there are skiers from all sorts of backgrounds now, and to know that SOS is wanting to implement our voices into these communities where we’re typically not heard is something very important to me, and I want to continue doing that.”To learn more about the SOS Outreach X Nordica skis project and to shop the ski, visit the Christy Sports website christysports.com/stories/nordica-sos.html.The post A full circle moment for SOS Outreach alumni at Live PC Give PC event appeared first on Park Record.