A decade is an enormous milestone for a charity event. Surviving logistic challenges, volunteer turnover and waning motivations, few reach such a milestone.
Yet organizers of the Rob Bosinger Memorial Weekend can’t fathom that 10 years have passed since the charity’s namesake died of a heart arythmia at 38.
“It really doesn’t feel like 10 years,” said Pete Bosigner, Rob’s older brother. “This event helps us remember the great times we had with my brother.”
The fundraiser resumes at Mount Norquay on Saturday (April 18), attracting a veritable who’s who of Canada’s ski community while raising funds for youth ski scholarships and Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.
“It’s about re-uniting the ski community in the Bow Valley. It brings great memories and gives people an opportunity to re-unite. My favourite part of the event is seeing the people come from all across the country and North America to celebrate the event and my brother,” said Bosinger.
“The racing is a big part of it, but the best part is to see people come back from all over, every year.”
“It’s bittersweet,” said Janet Carswell, Rob Bosinger’s widow. “Ten years feels like yesterday and it feels like an eternity. I see a picture of Rob and I think I just saw him. It’s really cool this event is still happening. It’s spinning it into a positive.”
Low key and a great end of the season event, the Bozo Cup includes a day of fun head-to-head slalom racing and the Felix Belczyk KinderCup race for younger participants.
Canada’s Tristan Tafel, Louis-Pier Helie and Brady Leman of Canada’s ski cross team will participate in the Bozo Cup, as will former Canadian ski stars such as Edi Podivinsky, Carey Mullen, Thomas Grandi, Belczyk and Brian Stemmle. The event is always memorable and often includes costumes, good vibes and a friendly atmosphere.
“I remember the year Jan Hudec skied in jean shorts, and cut an inch off of them for every race he won,” said Carswell. “He made it to the final, and had daisy dukes on by the end of it. His legs were beet red because it wasn’t a warm day.”
Carswell said the charity has done a lot of good over the past 10 years, as it is one of the biggest ski scholarships in Western Canada. Each year, two 14-year-old skiers are given $2,500 scholarships each.
“When it started, I didn’t think it would last 10 years. But five years in, it was truly committed to paying out those scholarships and giving money to SADS. Rob just wanted to help the kids. When he was coaching, he could see some struggle financially, and he had so many that were good skiers, but just couldn’t afford it. We wish we had the money to help everyone who wants to ski race,” Carswell said.
“The scholarship is important to the racing communities. We want to keep that in the system. The addition of Banff Alpine Racers in the future to the races … it’s an important event for the U14, U16 and FIS kids to be a part of it and continue to come back and compete,” Pete Bosinger said.
Entries are still open in several Bozo Cup events, so volunteers and skiers can visit www.bozocup.com for more details. As the event continues to roll, there’s no reason it can’t continue for another 10 years.
“It’s something we tried to keep in perspective. The event needs to have people having fun. We make it relatively simple, as it’s about having fun and enjoying what we all do in Rob’s memory, which is get together and ski race,” Pete Bosinger said.
