20th Annual Ski For DeSo

WHAT IS “SKI FOR DESO” DAY?

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO – This year on February 5th, Karen and Jim DeSorrento, and their daughter, Suraya, will mark this special day and remember Justin “DeSo” DeSorrento, who was killed in an automobile collision on July 17, 1997. He was only 20 years old. For the DeSorrentos and their friends, February 5th has come to be known as “Ski for DeSo” Day in memory of Justin, who skied in Steamboat for the first time at age two and spent every moment possible on the mountain (or out of bounds!). He loved the steeps and cliffs of the backcountry, and waited anxiously for a fresh dump of powder in Steamboat’s sacred ghost trees.

The DeSorrento family resolved to remember Justin in ways that they knew he would agree were important, and that are pertinent to the values system and range of interests that Justin enjoyed. A charitable foundation (THE DESO FOUNDATION) was formed with the mission to identify projects, organizations, and individuals that best represent and promote those attributes of personal character that Justin embodied and respected.

These values include integrity and commitment to the principle of accepting personal responsibility for one’s actions. In keeping with these concepts, THE DESO FOUNDATION has found expression for its goals by providing funding for the Justin Andrew DeSorrento Sports Medicine Center at the Yampa Valley Medical Center built 1999. In addition to this and projects in other communities, THE DESO FOUNDATION has been a supporter of the Yampa Valley Community Foundation, the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and STARS. Each year on “Ski for DeSo” Day, THE DESO FOUNDATION makes a contribution through the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. to a local charity.

So, on February 5th please help us REMEMBER & CELEBRATE Justin’s birthday. Be sure you have your “Ski for DeSo” button on and make some turns for him…Steamboat was his favorite place on earth! If you are up for it, do not hesitate to head over to the run formally named for Justin in 2001, Chute 1 – DeSo’s Descent.