Natalie Brower has been skiing since she was four years old. It was a family pastime, and though she began skiing solely for recreation, she began competing 10 years ago.

"I didn't love competing at first, but my family wanted me to," Brower said. "I get so nervous every time I compete and you think you'd get used to it, but you never do. After a while, I grew to love it."

Since beginning her skiing career, she has been a member of the Snowbird Ski team and competed in two Junior Olympics. Brower missed nearly half of her senior year of high school because of skiing. She said she felt burnt out, but by the time she began attending BYU in the fall, she knew that she did not want to give up competing.

Brower and other ski enthusiasts, including Brower's brother and current team captain Lincoln Stevens, worked together to form a BYU ski team three years ago.

They first spoke to BYU about sponsoring a ski team, but their request was not granted nor were they given club status.

Not to be deterred, after studying the rules of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association, they realized that school sponsorship was not required. As long as they can prove they are students at BYU they can compete.

Since then, a small group of dedicated individuals have formed the BYU ski team. Publicity for the team consists mainly of word of mouth and as well as a group on Facebook. This year the team has seven members, Brower being the only female member of the team.

Stevens said their goal is to have 15 members on the team and have plans for more widespread recruiting in the future. The team looks for anyone who is a capable skier, former racing experience is not required. Stevens said the team would welcome anyone who is willing to dedicate the time and has a passion for the sport.

"This team has made my college career," Stevens said. "It's been the most fun thing I've done at BYU. The only drawback is that we don't get funding."

The team writes letters to family, friends and businesses every year explaining their situation and requesting donations.

Only a small portion of the team's funding is raised through this. Most of the expenses are paid for out of pocket by the team including things such as equipment, travel, hotels and registration fees.

In addition to the expenses, the sport is also time consuming practicing twice a week for five hours at Sundance Ski Resort.

The team travels nearly every weekend during the ski season to places up to ten hours away to race against other teams in the region.

As captain for the last three years, Stevens said that he spends an additional ten hours a week outside of practice doing things for the team.

BYU's team is the only one in their league without a coach or school sponsorship. Despite their disadvantages the team has been successful in competition.

This year, the men were only one place away from qualifying for the National Championships and Brower individually qualified.

Even though competition is demanding for members of the ski team, in the end it is all worth it.

"I love the speed and carving through turns," Brower said. "It is the greatest feeling when you've worked on something really hard and then you do it right."

Copyright Brigham Young University 11 Mar 2008