By HEATHER CLARK
BEND — If they were among the country's most elite in just about any other sport, they might well be millionaires.
At least they wouldn't be bumming a spot on a couch with a house full of roommates, or realistically pondering the question: "What's worth more — my skis or my car?"
Such is the life of a high-caliber cross-country skier in the United States.
But those who live and train in Central Oregon under the tutelage of J.D. Downing, founder, director and coach of XC Oregon, say they're willing to sacrifice lifestyle — the material kind, anyway — for the chance to see how fast they can be.
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Downing, a former elite-level Nordic skier from Northern California, created XC Oregon in 1998 to help Bend skiers Justin Wadsworth and Patrick Weaver land spots in the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano.
Downing established XC Oregon not so much as a training program but rather as a nonprofit to help financially support Olympic-caliber cross-country skiers.
Over the years, the program has grown to include dozens of skiers of varying abilities and competitive aims, and Downing's role has expanded to coach as well as program director and chief fundraiser.
"Some will race regionally, and some are literally (ski) strides away from being on Olympic and World Cup teams," says Downing, who compares XC Oregon to baseball's farm system.
XC Oregon's funded athletes — currently there are six — are those who have national and international racing aspirations, says Downing. Those athletes are provided a financial allocation, which helps pay for their travel costs and competition entry fees.
The program currently subsists year to year by securing private donations and corporate sponsorships.
It is Downing's hope that XC Oregon will one day secure a long-term endowment that would put the organization on firm financial ground.
"We want to create a structure that operates with stability and is good enough to put athletes on the Olympic team — to help them in any way we can," says Downing. "Sometimes it's as simple as making sure an athlete has a good living environment, a car that works, and health insurance."
Because of the size of the Bend community and access to a long ski season, Downing believes Central Oregon is an ideal location for XC Oregon, which is one of just five post-collegiate Nordic ski programs in the country, he says.
"We have the single longest season for cross-country skiing in North America," says Downing.
Colin Mahood, who has been ski racing with XC Oregon for seven years, says each year the program has attracted more elite racers and pulled in more financial support.
"There's definitely need for it," says Mahood, 29. "Because once skiers graduate from college, there's not a lot of programs in the country where you can have folks to ski with and coaching."
In addition to the handful of top-tier skiers on the team, XC Oregon includes about a dozen of what Downing refers to as "associate-level" skiers, many of whom have families and full-time jobs.
Associates benefit from the program's training and coaching, and they compete at local and regional races, but they receive no financial assistance.
After graduating from the University of Alaska Anchorage last spring, Zach Violett never considered giving up ski racing.
"I was going to keep skiing. I just had to find a way to do it," says Violett, 24, a four-time All-America skier and the reigning U.S. sprint relay champion.
Violett, who grew up near Lake Tahoe in Brownsville, Calif., chose to train with Downing and XC Oregon after considering several other elite Nordic programs across the country.
The only woman member of XC Oregon's elite team is Evelyn Dong. The 21-year-old skier from Wayland, Mass., is taking a break from her studies at Middlebury College in Vermont. Dong was a top-three finisher at the NCAA cross-country ski championships last March, and she recently posted a top-three finish at the SuperTour race in Soldier Hollow, Utah.
Marshall Greene, a 2004 graduate of Middlebury College, says many of his fellow skiers chose not to continue post-collegiate ski racing because of pressure to get a "real job."
"There's definitely pressure from parents and society as a whole to get a job and make money, and become an 'adult,' " he says.
But, Greene adds, the choice for him was simple.
"I really love skiing and love training," he says. "I knew that I could always go back to getting a job. But I had all this fitness from racing in high school and college. If I didn't continue, I would lose it."
Some of XC Oregon's elite skiers manage to hold down part-time jobs. Others are still searching. The challenge isn't to find part-time employment, but rather to connect with an employer who will allow an employee to take off for weeks — or perhaps months — at a time during the winter.
"We ski in the mornings, and in the afternoon we either lift weights, work on our skis or train again," explains Violett. "It's really simple, but really chaotic. All you have to do is ski and race, but that gets busy."
Several of the skiers on XC Oregon's elite roster say they race and train now for the opportunity to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
"It's hard to say I'm training for the Olympics," Greene offers. "But in reality, that's the goal. It almost sounds like a child's dream. Now I'm grown up and still going toward that. I recognize it's possible I won't make it, but I'm going to ski as long as I feel that I'm improving."
That Olympic pursuit for these exceptional skiers, though, is not merely a child's wishful thinking.
Violett says he and fellow skier Brayton Osgood were both "on the bubble" for the 2006 Turin Games — just a couple of spots out of contention for the U.S. Olympic Ski Team.
"I want to go to the Olympics," says Violett, without hesitation. "I want to see how fast I can get. There's only one way to find out."
On the Net:
XC Oregon: www.xcoregon.org/
