The Gold Medal Initiative created by the Rocky Mountain Division of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association is a funding effort to create opportunities for the elite athletes of the Division to move forward with their skills and abilities in pursuit of Olympic gold medals. At the time of its (the Gold Medal Initiative, GMI) creation, Colorado had never placed a snow sport athlete on the top step of a Winter Olympic Games. ‘Hard to believe given the long history of skiing and the quality of the ski resorts residing within our division’. In the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games the RMD realized the goal of two Olympic gold medals from Lindsay Vonn and Billy Demong. The tradition has begun, and to continue will require extreme diligence on the part of the athletes and the RMD to support these athletes.

The funding from the GMI is intended to support divisional athletic projects, versus individuals, and is reviewed by the RMD Grant committee from requests submitted by the disciplines represented by RMD (Freestyle, Alpine, and Special Jumping / Nordic Combined). Requests for GMI funding are submitted to the RMD BOD by June 1, annually and reviewed by the BOD established GMI committee. The Grant Committee submits recommendations to the BOD for approval at the following meeting of the BOD.

Each discipline will submit a synopsis of the previous year’s projects when submitting requests for a current years funding.

The Rocky Mountain Division has hosted an assortment of fundraising events in support of the GMI; Past events include Sporting Clay tournaments, the Epic Bike ride and a Golf Tournaments.