(upbeat music) - YMCA of a Northern Utah's Y I Ski Program provides all children across the Salt Lake Valley with the opportunity to experience winter sports and learn a new hobby.

Rich West is here with all the details about the program.

Hi Rich, - Hi.

Thanks for having.

- Yeah, this sounds like such a fun program and you've been around for awhile.

- I have.

And we have.

(both laughing) - It didn't mean you, I did mean the organization.

Tell us about Y I Ski.

- Yeah.

So with where we live and how close Salt Lake City is to the mountains and to skiing and snowboarding we thought, why don't we have a program to help get all kids up on the mountain and learn how to ski and snowboard.

- Yeah.

And so you started this program, and what have you seen come from it?

What are these kids learning?

- So we started the program in 2013 in partnership with The Share Winter Foundation and the purpose of starting the program was really, there's a lot of kids that just can't afford skiing and snowboarding.

It's just such one of those sports that's really hard to get into but once you do get into it, it can be really addicting.

So we wanted to create the on-ramp for all kids to be able to access skiing and snowboarding.

And besides learning a new sport, what we do see them is building confidence, trying something that they've never tried before, making friends and just discovering that self-confidence and the ability to do something that they never thought they would ever do.

- Wow.

And who is eligible to participate?

- Any children.

- Any children.

- Yeah any child.

And it's really designed to get those kids that can't afford it, or don't think that it's a sport for them.

We want to open their eyes and the doors to be able to welcome them up onto the mountain.

- All right.

So what do they need to know?

How do they participate?

How do they get involved?

- Well, it's a partnership with The Share Winter Foundation, and you can go to the YMCA's website to register.

Our first session is already full and we have 10 spots left in our second session.

And hopefully as time goes by, we'll be able to create more and more capacity and get more kids up on the mountain.

- Right.

Well, thank you for making us aware of it, giving people a heads up so they can get involved.

- Yeah.

Thanks for having me.

- If you'd like to learn more about the YMCA's Y I Ski Program simply visit ymca.org Sorry.

That is ymcautah.org, ymcautah.org.

I'm Laura Durham.

Thanks for watching Contact.

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