{"id":18682,"date":"2021-01-18T23:21:39","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T05:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=18682"},"modified":"2021-01-18T23:23:14","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T05:23:14","slug":"a-festival-for-black-skiers-in-idaho-became-a-coronavirus-nightmare-more-than-100-skiers-who-traveled-to-celebrate-together-would-ultimately-fall-ill-likely-carrying-the-virus-to-their-homes-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=18682","title":{"rendered":"A Festival for Black Skiers in Idaho Became a Coronavirus Nightmare, More than 100 skiers who traveled to celebrate together would ultimately fall ill, likely carrying the virus to their homes around the country"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Black skiers came to celebrate a historic milestone. Covid-19 followed them home<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ben Finley is one of the founders of the National Brotherhood of Skiers, an organization that advocated for Black skiers.<\/span>
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E<\/span><\/span>very year since 1978, hundreds of black skiers in the US have converged on a mountainside for the National Brotherhood of Skiers annual summit \u2013 a week of racing, partying and fundraising, and a rare chance to see dozens of smiling black faces in a predominantly white sport.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s revelries were historic, with NBS founders Arthur \u201cArt\u201d Clay and Benjamin \u201cBen\u201d Finley readying to be inducted into the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame \u2013 the first non-white skiers to receive the honor in its 63-year history. But the celebration in Sun Valley, Idaho, was overshadowed by the coronavirus after dozens of skiers, including Finley himself, were sickened in the following weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coronavirus outbreaks have hit ski resorts around the world, from Colorado to Austria, forcing the premature end of ski seasons and costing the industry $2bn, according to the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA).he coronavirus toll is out of sight \u2013 and out of mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The NBS outbreak \u2013 which has so far sickened at least 125 people and resulted in at least four deaths \u2013 has hit particularly hard, coming as it did in the midst of what should have been a triumphant moment for diversity in the sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hall of Fame recognition is the result of Clay and Finley\u2019s trailblazing efforts to forge a community for black skiers, free from the isolation that comes from being one of few people of color at a ski resort.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And for Finley, who ultimately survived his own battle with Covid-19, the past weeks have been an unexpected and remarkable chapter in his advocacy for black sportspeople and friendship with Clay that began more than four decades ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Skiing was the common denominator\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Clay and Finley, now in their early eighties, met in the early 1970s and bonded over their desire to create a space for black skiers. Since then, the NBS has become one of the largest <\/a>networks of skiers in the world and includes ski clubs in Detroit, Los Angeles and London. Meanwhile the group\u2019s fundraising efforts have helped to elevate the careers of athletes such as Bonnie St<\/a> John<\/a>, the first black woman to win a Paralympic medal for skiing, and Andre Horton<\/a>, the first black man to compete for the US alpine team.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite their success and influence, neither Finley and Clay had even picked up a pair of skis until they were in their 20s.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Art Clay, Ben Finley and Joe Dorsey.<\/span> Photograph: Courtesy of the National Brotherhood of Skiers<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Finley, who was raised in a middle class family in Harlem, fell in love with the outdoors during his early years as a Boy Scout, where he regularly hiked and camped in the snow. His grandmother from Barbados was confounded by his enthusiasm for the cold and gave him the nickname \u201cjackass grandson\u201d, a title that he still holds fondly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finley\u2019s first encounter with skiing came in 1962, while on a trip to Yosemite with a friend. \u201cWe were sitting in the warm California sun watching the white folks kill themselves coming down the mountain,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThe first thoughts I had were \u2018dollar bills and broken legs\u2019, in that order.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

But at his friend\u2019s insistence Finley found himself strapped to a pair of skis and back at Yosemite six weeks later.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI hated my first four lessons,\u201d Finley recalls. \u201cBut on the fifth lesson, something clicked and from then on it was fun.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Things took off when Finley, working as a government contractor in Anaheim, discussed the idea of a ski trip with co-workers. They soon had 35 people on board, and before long were running monthly ski trips.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile over 2,000 miles away, in Chicago, Arthur Clay was going on similar trips with a Chicago-based club.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clay was born to a farming family in Mississippi, and like Finley had grown up camping and canoeing as a boy scout. His first brush with skiing while serving in the US army in France was also tinged with skepticism; but upon returning home to Chicago, he reconsidered. \u201cI came back and found that winters were very boring if you had to stay in the house,\u201d Clay says. \u201cSo, I decided that I\u2019d give skiing a try.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clay admits part of the motivation was simply enjoying the ski resort lifestyle. \u201cIt was really just going to a ski resort to have a drink,\u201d he says. \u201cI found that there were some very cute young ladies who were trying to ski, so I became a part of that culture.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Art Clay at his home in Chicago. Clay, along with Ben Finley, are the first African Americans to be inducted into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.<\/span> <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That period in his life was defined by a sense of camaraderie. \u201cAt the time there were very few blacks on the slopes so every time we went out and saw another black person, before the day was over we were friends.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clay and Finley set about organizing the first NBS summit \u2013 which took place in Aspen, Colorado, in 1973 \u2013 after being introduced by a mutual friend. Finley recalls he and Clay had big ideas, but little event planning experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cArt and I were normal working folks, not convention managers,\u201d Finley says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what the hell we were doing.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the civil rights movement of the 1960s evolving into the black power movement, Clay and Finley were aware their gathering could cause the resort town\u2019s residents some unease.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201c10 days before the summit we sent Aspen officials a press release saying \u2018black folks are coming to town,\u2019\u201d Finley says. \u201cThey ended up calling the governor and the governor put the national guard on standby for the week of our event.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the concerns, the gathering was \u201ca hell of a time\u201d, Clay recalls, with nightly parties and ski races, and a strong sense of community.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSkiing was the common denominator,\u201d Finley says of that first cohort. \u201cBlack women from the east coast arrived in mink coats, black women from the west coast arrived in jeans. Doctors and lawyers were mingling with auto workers from Detroit.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere were good skiers, there were bad skiers, but they were all black skiers.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coronavirus hits the NBS<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Skiing was, and still is, among the whitest in the sporting world. Following the summit\u2019s success and the official formation of the National Brotherhood of Skiers, Clay and Finley wanted \u201ca higher objective than just bringing black folks to the ski club\u201d, Finley says. They set their sights on putting black skiers on the US Olympic ski team, wearing uniforms that donned the NBS name.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NBS has made major strides on that front, setting up a scholarship fund for young skiers and providing financial and moral support to trailblazing athletes like St<\/a> John<\/a> and Horton<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NBS annual ski summits are known as the largest gathering for black skiers in the world and serve as a major boost to the locales that host them. This year when more than 600 attendees gathered in Sun Valley in early March, coronavirus was far from most participants\u2019 minds.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just enjoying ourselves,\u201d said Sharon Nichols Sargeant, a longtime summit attendee and the president of Sacramento\u2019s Ebony Ski & Racquet Club. \u201cThere was no sign of danger.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the virus ultimately claimed the lives of at least five NBS members including Charles \u201cChuck\u201d Jackson<\/a>, of Pasadena, and Haymon Jahi of San Jose.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finley, who has a pre-existing respiratory illness, found his own breathing deteriorated so dramatically after returning from Idaho that \u201cmy wife dragged my ass to the UCLA ER,\u201d he told the Guardian.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finley was diagnosed with both pneumonia and Covid-19, eventually recovering after six days in isolation. \u201cI\u2019m blessed to have been diagnosed early,\u201d he says. \u201cNow I am a nine out of 10 and able to ride my bike and am building up breathing and cardio.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nichols Sargeant, 53, was also diagnosed with coronavirus, but \u201cwas able to get better at home after being out of commission for more than three weeks\u201d, she said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere were times that I thought \u2018how am I so lucky\u2019 because I survived it and others didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019ll bounce back\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Coronavirus has pushed the NBS into the spotlight for tragic reasons, but while questions have been raised about what its future holds, members continue to post news and messages of encouragement to their affected peers \u2013 a testament to the strong community Clay and Finley have created.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think about the fun that I had,\u201d Nichols Sargeant says, \u201cbut I have guilt because I have all these great pictures and I can\u2019t post them, because I don\u2019t wanna traumatize the people that lost their fathers and friends.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

She admits the NBS \u201ctook a hit\u201d but is optimistic that its loyal cohort will remain committed to the organization\u2019s future. \u201cI think the NBS will bounce back from this.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n