Forward

WHEN MARIA VARGAS, 33, moved to Jackson, Wyoming, 14 years ago, skiing was the last thing on her mind. Born in Mexico and raised in St. Anthony, Idaho, she simply intended to work and bring up a family. She took on various service jobs before landing an assistant manager position with the local hospital. Though surrounded by mountains, Vargas, who became a U.S. citizen five years ago, never thought about skiing. It wasn’t part of her world.

Then one day at school, her son heard about a way he might be able to go skiing, like so many of his classmates. It was called the Doug Coombs Foundation. Vargas didn’t know who Doug Coombs was, but she looked into it, and discovered he was a famous skier who died and that his wife, Emily, was trying to help children from low-income families learn how to ski. Soon enough, her son, Jordan, and daughter, Michelle—after qualifying through an application process largely based on income level—were skiing two days a week at Snow King Mountain, with the foundation providing free equipment and lessons.

Her kids liked it so much—Jordan, now 11, graduated from the foundation three years ago and joined the 78-year-old Jackson Hole Ski Club (half of his club membership is funded through a scholarship, the other half from the foundation)—that Vargas decided to go skiing for herself. She took the slow double chair all