Dear Hanie and Suri,

Although over the last few years Nancy has been a dedicated cyclist, skiing was such a huge part of her past. And since Nancy and I were ski partners, I wanted you to have some of my memories in writing.

When Nancy and I met in 1989, there was an immediate connection between us. We had a mutual love for skiing and we were both avid skiers. I’m not sure what the exact number is, but we must have gone on about fifteen ski trips together. When we started skiing together Nancy was good, but she always wanted to be better. As with biking, Nancy always strived to be the best she could be. She wanted to have the perfect form: her knees bent in the right angle, her poles positioned in the proper place, her weight on the right leg. No weather stopped Nancy from hitting the slopes and striving to look and feel 100%.

The two of us would do anything to have a good day of skiing. On Wednesdays, during the winter months, Nancy would call me from work to update me on the weekend’s weather report out west, i.e., snowfall, fresh powder, and ski conditions. There were several times that we made last minute plane reservations on Thursday night (she had connections . . .) to fly out to Colorado or Utah to ski Friday and Sunday.

Nancy spent many ski vacations with my family. It was always a joy for my parents and brothers to have her around. Nancy was a part of our family and it was expected to have her join us. She always lit up the room with her sparkling eyes and smile. All the skiers in our family knew that when Nancy was with us we would have a full day. Starting at 8:30 A.M., when the first chair lift opened, until 3:30 P.M. when they closed—Nancy didn’t want to waste any time. When everyone wanted to take a rest or stop for lunch, Nancy would pull out the chocolate bar from her pocket and say “I’ll meet up with you as soon as you’re ready—I need to practice my parallel slalom a little more . . .”

Over the past few years it was difficult for us to coordinate our schedules to ski together. However, when I told Nancy that my family was going to be in Vail this past January, and considering the fact that it had been about four years since we skied together, she did everything possible to rearrange her schedule to meet us. I am so grateful to have had that opportunity to do with Nancy what we so loved to do together over the past twelve years.

With all of her passion and determination, Nancy became a great skier with beautiful form and always, as with everything else she did, made it look effortless.

Elana Schwartz