Scholarship Program Athlete Rhett Lindsey Reports from Europe
One of the most rewarding aspects of the Far West Masters Scholarship Program is watching young athletes develop over the years, and few stories illustrate this better than Rhett Lindsey's journey. Now in his sixth year with the program, Rhett is our senior scholarship athlete this season. He grew up training at Palisades Tahoe and has taken a significant step in his racing career: a gap year training in Europe as he works toward his goal of making the U.S. Ski Team.
While Rhett pursues that dream, Far West Masters remains proud to be his sponsor. He recently sent us the update below from Europe.
Dear Masters,
I want to start this recap by saying thank you, all of your support is what makes it possible for me to keep working toward my dream! With your help this has been my best season by far and there are still so many races to go. Last year as you may or may not know I was recovering from an ACL repair, I was based in Europe starting November so my season was a bit shorter than normal.
This year I was back stronger than ever and had a few great camps preseason which made a big difference. I Was able to travel to South America with Chad Fleischer a former American downhiller and now coach. I learned so much from him and found a new form that I carried over to Austria. Where I am now skiing full time, working out, and living the dream every day.
With moving over here the goal was always to target speed races and score better points. Being based near Kitzbühel allows me to travel easily and frequently to these higher level speed races compared to back home where finding any speed racing was a challenge.
Proudly I can say as planed all this racing has lead to scoring great points and lowering my world rank to 149 in downhill. This just qualifies me to ski Europa cup downhill which is the next step in my career. At the upcoming Europa cup in Pass Thurn (my local mountain) I have my sights set on a top 30. I am confident in my skiing, I have been able to train on the race hill, and knowing I will be up against strong competitors gives me more drive.
At the end of the day all I am thinking about in the start is the view and how grateful I am. The more I ski and make connections I see how much passion everyone has for the sport, and for that I have to say thank you at least one more time. I hope this little recap and some recent goals gives you an insight to my journey over here, I really can’t express how much it means to me.
Rhett Lindsey
Supporting the Next Generation
This season, Far West Masters is sponsoring 49 athletes across the Far West region, plus four collegiate athletes, with scholarships totaling more than $40,000. You'll see many of these athletes at our races throughout the season—they serve as forerunners and speak at awards ceremonies, connecting the Masters community with the future of ski racing.
If you'd like to contribute to the scholarship program, you can mail a check payable to "Far West Masters Scholarship Program" to:
Eddie Mozen
c/o Far West Masters Scholarship Program
PO Box 3718
Olympic Valley, California 96146
You can also donate online from the Scholarship Program page with PayPal.