Christie Aschwanden
President
Cedaredge
grandmesanordic@gmail.org

Christie joined the board in 2006. A former elite racer, she has skied and raced all over North America and Europe, but she loves skiing on the Grand Mesa more than anywhere else. Christie and her husband Dave coach the new Mesa State Nordic Ski Team, which qualified five skiers to nationals in its first year.

Annie Murphy
Vice President
Mesa
gmgliders@gmail.com

Annie is the program director and coach for Grand Mesa Gliders and serves as the GMNC’s Rocky Mountain Nordic liaison. She joined the GMNC board in 2007 after moving to the area and her interest was to develop a junior Nordic program on the Grand Mesa.  With the help of Christina Stark and Sarah Shaw, she started the Grand Mesa Gliders program in the 2007-2008 ski season.

She met her husband, Chris Murphy, on the ski slopes at Powderhorn and Chris is also a Gliders coach.  Together they love to play ski games with the Glider kids and ski with their two dogs on the Dog Loop at Countyline.  Annie also enjoys skiing at night during full moons, dressing up in costumes to go skiing, and going on backcountry ski tours.

Tom Ela
Secretary
Grand Junction
970-434-9753/nachtambule@aol.com
Tom was one of GMNC’s founding board members and he’s been on the board since March, 1990. He also serves as GMNC’s race director, putting on the GMNC race series and providing racers with his famous soup. He loves Nordic skiing because it allows him to get great exercise with fresh air and wild scenery. He loves the GMNC for the focus on grass roots, volunteers and community service.

Jerry & Suzi Evans
Grand Junction

Anita Evans & Richard Hypio
Hotchkiss, 872-1168

Richard and Anita have a had a love of skiing ever since they met, and in fact were married on cross country skis in December of 1984.  At least one of the two (Anita and Richard) have been on the GMNC board since its inception. They have been taking groups of kids out on skis for at least as many years. When the opportunity arose for them to help organize cross-country ski trails on Grand Mesa, there was no question that it was important to be involved. They now organize Skis for Kids, a GMNC program that provides cross country skis for children’s groups of all ages.  Their main goal is to get kids on skis and learn to enjoy a healthy active lifestyle year round.

Dave Knutson
Paonia /Grand Junction
527-3969 Friday to Monday; 261-1496 Tues-Thurs eves
shinumo@tds.net

Dave joined the GMNC board in summer of 2008. Since then, he has helped install and maintain the doggie bag station at County Line, worked with the board on a member survey and strategic plan, and taken on the role of volunteer fundraising guru.
A trail runner and former snowboarder, he invented the sport of “flyjoring” combining skate skiing and fly fishing. While in GJ he likes to pop up to the Mesa after work for some skiing with headlamps. He sojourns from his home in Paonia, doing HR work for Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado. He and his wife Jill have been in love and skiing together since 1977 – most of this time in Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon area.

Bob Kretschman
Grand Junction, CO  81506
bobki70@gmail.com
Bob joined the board in 2009. In the mid-1980s, Bob taught himself to cross-country ski as a cheap way to pass time on his days off from working at a newspaper in Snowmass Village. He has skied and snowshoed on Grand Mesa for many years and has watched use of the GMNC’s trails increase substantially. As a GMNC board member, he wants to help the organization find ways to maintain and improve the trail system as use increases.

Joe Ramey

Grand Junction

Denis Reich
Grand Junction

Winslow Robertson
Palisade
970-464-0675, winslowrobertson@yahoo.com
Winslow has lived in Palisade since 1986, when he was lured there from his life as a ski bum and groomer in Montana to run the nordic ski program for Powderhorn (and work for the BLM). He has served as a board member of the GMNC on and off from the beginning, and has worked as a liaison with the USFS to establish many of the ski trails. “I believe we have the best skiing in the State, and look forward to additional trails, warming huts, and improved parking areas…, in my lifetime, I hope.”

Christina Stark
Grand Junction, Colorado
christinaarstark@gmail.com

Christina was introduced to cross country skiing as a child on a few backcountry ski adventures with her family.  Her passion for skiing began as a sophomore in high school after she joined her school’s ski team.  After high school she continued to ski race for four years as a Division I collegiate racer.  She began coaching primarily youth during her first year in college.  Most of her coaching experience is from working as a youth ski coach for the Auburn Ski Club in Soda Springs, California where she coached for 10 years.  She loves coaching and exploring skiing and the outdoors with the kids, new skiers, and friends.  She is now assisting as the Volunteer Coordinator for the GMNC Board.  She is also one of the coaches for the Grand Mesa Gliders ski program.  She enjoys most quiet outdoor activities, especially cross country skiing, mountain biking, and backpacking.  Her favorite winter activity is skiing under a big bright full moon on a clear night, with fresh snow still draped in the trees and large sparkling snow flakes lighting the path.