|
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 17:39 |
- The Snow Leopard and the Ghana Ski Team are now safely settled in the Mount Washington Alpine Resort amongst other funded international teams. It is clear that the Ghana Ski Team’s journey to the Vancouver Winter Olympics is a different one to most others. At this time we have not received a penny, pound or schilling from the Ghana authorities, which has made life near impossible.
Kwame is in no doubt that without the support of a few select sponsors, a cast of hundreds of individuals along the way and the community of Comox Valley and Mount Washington, his journey would have ended long ago. It is incredible to reflect that at almost any one time Kwame’s Olympic dream could have ended at any time if a sponsor had not ‘ridden over the hill’ at that point. His sponsors include Paddy Power (bookmaker, betting), Base Camp Group (adventure training), Val Di Fiemme (Italian Ski Resort), Kiku (the best apples in the world!), Snow Centre (Britain’s Premier indoor ski slope), LSL (clothing sponsor), Khunu (Mid Layer Yak wool sweaters), Canadian Affair (Our superb airline partner), Tourism Mount Washington(Who have made our training camp possible) and Skipp (training flags and gates).
It is hard to put into words how humbled the team are for the support from everybody we have met. Kwame commented “from getting on a chair lift, to stopping for fuel or ordering a hot chocolate the messages of support are inspiring and gratefully received, we were amazed that people on the slope even knew Denis’ name as well”.
The team are well aware that without the vision and determination of individuals like Sarah Nicholson of Tourism Mount Washington and Dianne Hawkins of Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce then they would not have a pre-games training facility in Canada. They have mobilized an army of local individuals who have funded our accommodation on the island. Also Peter Britain of Ford County who has provided our team vehicle sporting some amazing graphics. Another local person then insisted on filling the Snow Mobile for the first time.
The team have a press and media day on the 2nd of Feb 2010 and then focus their attention on serious training as Kwame has only had a month of training prior to arriving in Canada due to lack of funding. The team are still searching for accommodation for Kwame’s family and 3 members of the support team who do not have anywhere to stay during the Olympics. They are hopeful that someone might be able to help with accommodation in Whistler and tickets to the opening ceremony to enable Kwame’s family to support him. God bless.
|
The Snow Leopard 
