By Tim Hauserman ·
Courtesy Tahoe Cross Country Ski Area
Couple spread joy of outdoors
If you know Kevin and Valli Murnane, well, it seems somewhat crazy to write about the two of them as one inspirational story.
While they have been married for 18 years and both work at the same place (Kevin managing Tahoe Cross Country Ski Area, and Valli managing the Tahoe Cross Country Ski Education Association) they are two people with different management styles. And, yet, perhaps it is that yin and yang that makes them a winning combination.
Together they have worked hard to create a little place of community paradise called Tahoe Cross Country Ski Area. What makes Tahoe Cross Country special is that they are constantly on the look out for new ideas that will improve the experience of those who go there, and they are especially interested in bringing the joys of cross-country skiing to local children. As if that’s not enough along, with two kids that keep them busy, Valli became an Ironman two years ago and Kevin was set to compete in 2014 when the event was cancelled.
Valli is the no -onsense, see-what-needs-to-get-done, and get-‘er-done kind of person. Kevin’s mind is full of incredible ideas that need time to marinate before they come to fruition or disappear into the ether, but when they do emerge from his brain, they are awesome.
Opening cross-country to kids
In the last few years, Valli has helped to dramatically expand Strider Gliders, the after-school, cross-country ski program. It had 40 pre-school to 5th graders enrolled when Valli arrived on the scene and now there are more than 200 kids and 50 volunteer instructors in Strider Gliders. A few years ago, she added a laser biathlon program for the older Strider Glider kids and it became an instant success, with registration filling up every year in just a few days. Then, seeing that some of those Strider Glider kids had turned into strong skiers, two years ago she pulled off a mini miracle by establishing another instant success, the Tahoe XC Devo and Comp Team.
The Devo and Comp Team is a program that allows kids to up their Nordic game by training year-round with a coach.
“I was told that it couldn’t be done. We went and got a grant from the Kiwanis and Rotary to buy a van to drive the kids around to races,” she says. “Next, we had to find a qualified coach who understands the mission. Then we had to look for sponsors.”
While Valli is quick to credit the people she works with, saying that the key is to hire the right people, she is always ready to jump in and do everything that needs to be done.
Valli also turned a yurt on the edge of the ski area into the Winter Discovery Center, which is now used almost every day in the winter as an environmental education resource for children. All of these Tahoe Cross Country Ski Education programs take money, so a big part of Valli’s job is writing grant proposals and organizing fundraising events to keep things afloat.
Smooth operator
Kevin takes on the hundreds of different tasks needed to keep the ski area running smoothly. When it comes to the daily operations at Tahoe Cross Country, the employees know that if you need to know where something is, or how to do it, you usually need to delve into the mind of Kevin.
Kevin loves to develop innovative ideas to improve the visitor experience. He created a contraption that can be hauled behind a snowmobile that has a grill, tables and workspace to create delicious concoctions on the snow at the far reaches of the trail system. Want to have a meal for 20 out at the Silver Hut? Oh, yeah, they can do that.
When he saw parents struggling to carry pulk sleds (used to pull kids behind you while skiing) from their car to the snow, he had a local roofer put together a pulk sled locker that sits on skis. Parents can lock up their sled, and for the entire season never have to return it to the car. Then, when he saw that the small yurt on the property was only being used for storage, he found some old ski lockers, and had them squeezed into the yurt, and Tahoe XC now has on-snow ski lockers.
And, two years ago, Kevin opened the trail system to mountain bikers for the summer. Mountain Bikers can drive or walk right to the trailhead, rent a bike, grab something to eat, purchase an extra tube and hit the trail.
Perhaps they are proving the old adage that if you want to get something done, give it to someone who is busy. Or, in their case, give it to someone who’s passion for giving people the opportunity to find joy in human-powered exercise, overrides their need for sleep.
Tim Hauserman wrote the guidebook “Cross-Country Skiing in the Sierra Nevada,” and directs the Strider Glider program at Tahoe Cross Country.
