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OUR MISSION

To Create a Community Supported Cross-Country Ski Program
for Seattle Area Youth

Momentum Northwest believes that what we teach to the youth of the Seattle area goes beyond simply learning to ski. Taking athletes into the out-of-doors and into the mountains in all seasons, we are introducing to them the ethics of individual accountability, lifelong health, and a balance of sport and nature, which few other pursuits can provide.

CORE VALUES

  • Personal Growth: Cross-country skiing provides opportunities for young athletes to meet challenges and discover the methods to succeed with determination and skill.

  • Leadership/Mentoring: Coaches are dedicated to helping young athletes take ownership of their choices in the sport of skiing and encourage high behavior standards.  

  • Team Building: Young skiers best grow in personal responsibility and self-worth in a supportive team environment based on mutual respect and shared experiences.

  • Community Building: A supportive environment based on shared goals and challenges connects individuals, forges friendships, and provides opportunities for athletes, coaches, volunteers, and parents to grow cross-country skiing in the Seattle area. 

  • Commitment to Excellence: Goal setting, accountability, and training protocols work only when an athlete uses body, mind, and spirit to their individual best abilities.

  • Fun: Friends, nature, training, learning, racing, hot chocolate and good wax; what’s not to like?

OUR HISTORY

Momentum Northwest was founded in 2014 by Coert & Courtney Voorhees with a very special benefactor. They saw the need for a XC ski program for youth in the Seattle area. There was no other year-round program that offered XC skiing for emerging skiers as well as a competitive program for older youth.

Both Coert and Courtney are lifelong skiing enthusiasts. Courtney grew up skiing in Colorado and the Pacific Northwest, she taught alpine skiing in Colorado and earned PSIA level 100 certification before moving to Sun Valley and teaching there. Coert was on the junior XC racing team at the Overlake School, and then raced NCAA for the University of Utah and joined the international ranks representing the US Ski Team in a variety of World Cup events. Coert continues to keep his hand in skiing as a USSA Certified Level 100 and volunteering his time on a number of skiing and trails-related initiatives.

Hiring a full-time coach was paramount to creating a comprehensive year-round program, Sam Naney was the first full-time coach for Momentum Northwest and 2014/2015 was our inaugural season. An outdoor program wrapped around Nordic Skiing enabled urban kids an opportunity to compete and train in a sport that was only available to a few private school kids and small rural towns in snow country. The only expectations for participation were attitude and effort.

The program was guided from the beginning by an instrumental board of directors. Fundraising has been vital to the success of the program, the founders wanted reasonable participation fees so that just about anyone interested in skiing with Momentum Northwest could.

When the pandemic hit in 2020 the head coach stepped down and Coert, together with Tom Jackson stepped up and coached Devo and Comp. Momentum Northwest, being 100% outdoors, flourished during the pandemic with new interest and talent. Participant numbers rose significantly. Hours of diverse, yet focused, training with running in the mountains, roller-skiing in rainforests, and track workouts in town proved the athletes’ resilience.

In 2022 Coert & Courtney relocated to Idaho and the program continues to be guided by a committed board of directors, with Coert still playing an advisory role.