All Blog Posts (618)

On Tuesday April 30^th 2013 my cousin and I boarded a plane to Palm Springs California. Many people whom I know would ask me, “Tessy what are you doing in California.” To this question there is a very simple answer. I am going to Palm Springs California for four days in order to represent SOS Outreach at the NSAA, National Ski Area Association, 2013 conference. What is the NSAA Conference? It is a conference where the National Ski Area Association and every single ski resort in the…

If you are looking to go to Elitch Gardens this summer at anytime,

you can buy…

Colorado Anti-Drug Cause

Five Fort Collins SOS students decided to make a website to take on the problem of drug and alcohol use and abuse by…

Throughout April, hundreds of SOS students, staff, volunteers, and families are gathering to celebrate the end of winter season. With graduation ceremonies around the country, we are so proud of all that our students have accomplished this year.

The most exciting celebrations are for the 750 students in our long-term University program. Ranging from 8 to 18 years old, these…

On April 5th, 200 local students and their families gathered at Battle Mountain High School in Edwards to celebrate the end of the winter season with SOS Outreach.

The students, ranging from elementary to high school, spent the winter skiing and snowboarding at Beaver Creek Resort with adult mentors…

How have you overcome roadblocks? What has been your greatest influence in becoming a leader?



Such were questions that a group of local students asked a group of leaders representing the local community, nonprofits, the business sector, and the snowsports industry as part of a leadership panel hosted by…

Last week, SOS had the opportunity to partner with Camp Wisdom, bringing five kids from Jackson, Mississippi to the mountains for the first time. Camp Wisdom is an out-of-school program for elementary and middle school children run by the Wisdom Foundation. As part of their efforts to help all children…

When it comes to being safe in the mountains, having the right tools is very important. Adventure Medical Kits makes some fantastic first aid kits for camping and wilderness trips. SOS Outreach is privileged that Adventure Medical Kits decided to donate six Professional Ultralight Pro Kits to wilderness programs for the 2013 summer season. This year,…

SOS Outreach wants to thank its ten active AmeriCorps members, and the many who have come before them, as we celebrate AmeriCorps Week. This year’s AmeriCorps Week spans March 9-17, saluting AmeriCorps members and alums for their service to communities across the country. SOS Outreach AmeriCorps members help build SOS’s program capacity and work directly with kids in the community, acting as mentors and role models as SOS kids grow…

Registration is open now for the first annual 2013 Ragnar Relay Colorado held September 6-7. And this year, runners have an opportunity to support SOS Outreach when they register with promo code COTEAMSOS…

A note from Joey Vergara, 7th year SOS participant and Junior Sherpa, on his experience at the SIA Snow Show:

I had the opportunity to join SOS Outreach in reaching out to different corporations at the SIA convention this year. Overall, the experience was amazing. I got to meet a lot of big people in the industry as well as talk to new companies that just…

Denver, Colorado (January 23, 2012) –Never Summer, 686, Snowboard Colorado, Zeal Optics, PBR and Monster Energy are proud to announce the fourth annual SIA/SOS Shootout is a go.  Set to go down on Wednesday January 30th, the game will kick off the SIA tradeshow in Denver, Colorado. The competitive hockey game benefiting SOS Outreach, will feature all kinds of snowboard and ski industry heads from the US and Canada, ready to square off before the show as well as a couple of NHL…

After a short break for the Holidays, SOS participants are getting back on the hill this weekend. SOS serves 5,200 students annually, 825 of them in the long-term University program. Between Wednesday, January 9 and Sunday, January 13, SOS will serve 1206 students across 35 program days at 13 different mountain resorts. These five days mark one of the biggest program weeks SOS has ever seen, as more kids than ever are exposed to a core value curriculum, positive mentorship relationships, and…

Happy New Year! As we kick-off 2013, we are wrapping up our 5^th Annual Pledge Campaign.  We’ve already raised nearly $5,500 to keep spreading the love! With just nine days left, we’ve got a lot of prizes still to give away!

Pledge Campaign is being supported by some amazing sponsors this year. Ski Magazine. Chaos. Optic Nerve. MountainSmith. Kuhl. Zeal. POW. Smartwool. Holden. SOLE. Nikwax. K2. I can’t say thank you…

A Message from Founder and Executive Director, Arn Menconi

I was asked on the chair this past Saturday by a Junior Sherpa what is my favorite core value.  "I answered Compassion. It means to be able to understand the suffering of others.  We all suffer and the best way to lessen our suffering is to outreach to one another and give back." 

As a parent of a 6 and 8 year old the tragedy last Friday at Sandy Hook grade school profoundly impacts me.  I started SOS in 1993…

TODAY is the day to Give No Matter Where You Live!

All donations made through GivingFirst.org on December 4th will be enhanced by the First Bank Incentive Fund. Additionally, the Tom Sims Legacy Fund is matching dollar-for-dollar up to $7,000 all donations to SOS Outreach. This means over 100% of your donation will go directly to getting…

We made it through Black Friday……

The Northwest, and Seattle in particular, are hubs of the snowboarding and outdoor sports community. There are probably more than a dozen companies headquartered less than a 30 minute drive from our SOS office in SoDo, Seattle. Many of these companies also happen to be supporters of SOS, and they, along with our…