This weekend Holiday Valley is showing a documentary about five individuals who have learned to ski and enjoy life despite disability. Although none of the Marxes suffer from disability; Nicole is featured in the film. Like the rest of the clan she is an avid skier and sportswoman, who has chosen to follow her passion for outdoor sports. The rest of her family are equally crazy about skiing; starting with father Bill, mother Mary Ann, sister Kristen and her husband, Mike Russo.
Nicole earned a degree in Environmental Studies from York University in Toronto. After five seasons in Holiday Valleys Lounsbury Adaptive Ski Program, she traveled to Aspen for a three month internship to work with Challenge Aspen to teach disabled skiers adaptive skiing. That was four years ago. At the time she had no idea how an intersection of fate would let her to appear in the film The Movement. Some time earlier the COO of Universal Studios, while skiing at Aspen, suffered a severe collision with a tree. X-rays revealed he had severed his spine leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. In the movie Rick Finkelstien explains how the desire to ski again started to grow, until he felt compelled to return to Aspen and ski once more. Here, he met up with Nichole Marx and her boyfriend, Ryan Latham who are PSIA instructors in Aspens adaptive ski program. A group of filmmakers were producing a movie about the adaptive program and followed Nicole and Ryan around as they re-taught Rick how to ski using a mono ski and outriggers. In addition to being an expert in alpine, freestyle and adaptive skiing, she recently received her certification as a white water rafting guide. As her dad says, “she gets paid to do what other people pay to do.”
In a very real way it was skiing that started the family. Bill and Mary Ann met through a singles ski club. As soon as they were married and had children the family hit the slopes. Both girls were on skis as young as two and a half. Mary Ann was a nurse who went on to become a nurse manager at Sisters of Charity Hospital in Buffalo. Although she didn’t pursue a path towards ski patrol, she is an avid recreational skier. Bill’s professional life involved residential pool sales, but his passion was clearly with skiing. As Nichole and Kristen got older, Bill took them with him on weekend ski patrol duty. Even if the girls were off skiing elsewhere, the family met up for lunch; a tradition that continues to this day.
Kirsten has forged her own path with ski patrol. She began training for ski patrol at the tender age of 15. After receiving her degree at Boston University she went to work in human resources at Canon Design, and currently works at ADP. She is now Assistant Patrol Director at Holiday Valley, as well as Eastern Division Ski and Toboggan Trainer /Evaluator staff member, conducting ski training clinics at Holiday Valley and other Eastern ski resorts. It was through her instructing that she met her husband Mike Russo, now in his sixth year of ski patrol. She also does mountain survival training; teaching recruits how to build an igloo should they get caught in a storm. In 2010 she was awarded the WNY regions “patroller of the year.” Dad credits her 20 years of ballet class with giving her the strength and poise to handle a fully loaded toboggan down a steep run.
Looking back, Bill credits skiing with helping the family develop the close bonds they now enjoy. “The kids going on ski patrol every Sunday, kept us close together as a family” Bill says. He goes on, “ski patrol is like an extended family, and it’s kind of bonded us together.” The film The Movement will be shown and Holiday Valley this Saturday the 4th at 7:00pm.
