The track record of success for the nearly 1000-member strong organization is impressive. Three consecutive record-breaking National Masters Championships...renewing major corporate support for programs...operation of the world's largest XC website...unprecedented membership benefits...over $55,000 in contributions back to the ski community...the list goes on and on.

According to most long-term members, the AXCS has been able to build such a successful national program primarily because it has stuck to it's guns and made a concerted effort to have national input on all major policy decisions. The AXCS National Masters Committee is one of the very few nationwide leadership structures in which the participants in the organization actually make the fundamental decisions governing how, when, where, and why the AXCS operates. Having 12 skiers spread out over four time zones, 12 different states, and with a wide range of different divisional and local agendas to report to is a daunting proposition but somehow each quarter the Committee is indeed able to get the job done. Although it has been a battle at times to convince individuals and groups in a diverse national XC ski community of the fact that the Committee really does call all the shots...each year the AXCS gains more and more credibility because of the effort made to respond to input and involve as many Masters as possible.

One of the most difficult issues the AXCS Committee has tackled over the past three years (and continues to wrestle with today) is the sometimes negative perception of Masters competition in the eyes of ski areas, elite competition bodies, and even race organizers. The oft-mentioned Bob Woodward quote of a few years back..."Master skiers are a pain in the ass"...is used by many in the Masters community as evidence of the love/hate relationship between competitive Masters and the other major ski groups.

AXCS National Director J.D. Downing has experienced first hand the paradoxical relationship between Masters and those that simultaneously want them involved...but hate having them around. "Absolutely the Woodward quote made people stop and think on both sides of the issue. The difficult thing is that there is evidence to support both sides. The good news is that we've found within the AXCS is that we can be a powerful...perhaps the most powerful...force for change to educate both sides of the issue so that competitive Masters can consistently live up to their potential as a tremendously positive group within the race community."

Downing points to the National Masters as proof positive of how a "new age" Masters movement can benefit the entire sport. "In 2000, the AXCS helped a group of fantastic organizers (all Masters) to put on the largest Championship event ever held in the U.S. right in the middle of St. Paul, Minnesota. Yet far from being exclusively an elite-dominated show, this event was inclusive of recreational skiers, youth, never-evers, the list goes on. We followed that up with a great event in Maine last February. We'll do it again in California this coming March. These events are drawing positive attention to the sport...they aren't draining resources...they are bringing in paying customers...they are simulating interest...they are making the sport interesting to a wide cross-section of the population. On their own, individual Masters can't make that statement but in an organized association such as the AXCS, we can now provide a forum to get the message out that Masters skiing is a big deal, is worth supporting, and is worthy of respect."

AXCS activities have not been limited to the National events, of course, which further strengthens the organization's value to the overall XC ski community. "The building strength of xcskiworld.com (the only XC electronic resource in the world with an official Olympic credential); the massive contributions back to non-profit XC projects; directly helping to strengthen local clubs and training groups...all of this is going to pay off over the long term for every member of the ski community," says Downing. "Best of all, we are in a position to be an incredible educational conduit directly into the heart of Masters skiing. Just the other day I was explaining to an xcskiworld.com reader why ski areas can't close trail systems for races. This skier would normally have been one of those "pains" that Woodward refers to but because of the AXCS, she now understands and respects the situation areas and organizers are in. This is the kind of thing where we are making a real difference for XC in the future."

For more information on the American Cross Country Skiers, the Subaru National Masters, and xcskiworld.com website please contact the AXCS National Office: [email protected], (541) 317-0217.