Rahlves Tackles Tahoe To Help Vets
Although his busy ski cross schedule keeps Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA) occupied, Rahlves found the time in August to paddle across Lake Tahoe for a good cause. The event aimed to raise awareness for the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation, which benefits veterans with traumatic brain injuries.
"It was great to have an event like this to raise awareness for a good cause," Rahlves said. "The mission of the foundation is to support war vets who have had brain injuries and just help them with their lives."
Rahlves, along with 27 athletes including fellow Olympians Nate Holland (Truckee, CA) and Jonny Moseley (Squaw Valley), spent nearly six and a half hours standing on surfboards and paddling the length of Lake Tahoe to bring some attention to the foundation.
"What we did was to raise awareness. It was a long enduring challenge that kind of symbolized what the war vets are going through," Rahlves said. "The longest route we could take is the way we went. But, our paddling across the lake is nothing compared to what the war vets have to do."
Rahlves, who said the long event was a challenge for him to get through, said that being in the middle of the lake by himself also gave him time to reflect on war veterans and what they have to go through.
"I'm not an endurance athlete, so just to push myself in that way athletically was a challenge," Rahlves said. "But, there was a lot of time out there for me to be able to think about what the vets have to do to make a good recovery and get to the point in their life where they can deal with the change in their life."
When it was all said and done, Rahlves felt happy to have been a part of the journey and hopes that the group's efforts could positively affect the foundation.
"Everyone that started finished and I thought it was a great benefit to pull together all the skiers and snowboarders from the Truckee area and have them do this," Rahlves said. "Hopefully someone saw what we did and thought it was cool enough to donate to the foundation."
|
Rahlves Tackles Tahoe To Help Vets
