Thread Tools

**truebluefan** · 09-01-2008, 12:00 PM

Three-time Olympian Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA) has skied all around the world, but he's about to mark a new destination off his list as he departs to assist with a ski camp in Dubai.

"Ski Dubai puts on an event in its indoor facility and it's a camp where they're bringing in kids and adults and expose them to skiing," Rahlves said. "They're bringing me as someone else to help with the kids."

Rahlves, who won the 2003 Hahnenkamm downhill and was the 2001 super G World Champion, is one of the most iconic and highly decorated figures in men's alpine ski racing. Wanting to explore a new facet of skiing, Rahlves began competing in ski cross and was the 2008 X Games ski cross gold medalist.

Rahlves, who will be assisting children who are learning to ski during the week-long camp, is looking forward to the new experience of skiing indoors.

"They don't have any mountains around there to ski, but they have an indoor facility and to be able to ski in an indoor facility in Dubai is a pretty unique experience," Rahlves said. "I'm looking forward to being able to say, 'Hey, I skied Dubai, too.'

"It will be 120 degrees outside and I'll be walking into a facility where it's 30 degrees and full of snow. I want to get a photo of me walking on the sand dunes with all my gear."

While Rahlves' main focus will be instructing children on indoor snow, he hopes that he can show people the joy of skiing and influence them to eventually travel abroad to ski.

"It's going to be a cool experience for me and I hope I can inspire some other people to get into skiing and venture out of Dubai to hit some real slopes," Rahlves said. "Hopefully the people that experience the camp will have the opportunity to go somewhere to ski on an actual mountain."

To generate even more interest in skiing during his time there, Rahlves, along with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Foundation, have organized an auction in Dubai. The winner will receive an all-expense paid trip to the Lake Placid, NY World Cup on Jan. 19, 2009, where they will be able to see Rahlves, along with his teammates, compete in the second ski cross World Cup to be held in North America.