Something you can do in the off season.

You can do what a friend of mine, Steve Kendra, is doing:

Cycle across America.

Steve is part of a team called "Ari's Angels" that's participating in the Race Across America. The charge of his team: to raise money for The Children's Tumor Foundation, an organization whose mission is to end Neurofibromatosis (NF) through research.

NF is a progressive and debilitating genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow randomly throughout the body, along the nerves and nerve endings. It can cause brain tumors, blindness, deafness, bone abnormalities, learning disabilities, and more. NF occurs in more than one in 3,000 births and is more common than Cystic Fibrosis, hereditary Muscular Dystrophy, and Huntington’s Disease combined. Currently, there are no effective treatments and NO CURE for NF.

Steve and his team began their journey in Oceanside, CA, on June 12, and expect to complete it in Atlantic City, NJ, on Friday, June 22. They've seen it all: From the mountains to the prairies indeed. And they've persevered with humor, strength, and dedication that are lessons to us all.

Those of us who are not along for the ride can follow Steve's journey at Ari's Angels' Blog. And you can make a donation to his team by visiting Active Giving.com.

Be sure to visit TheSkiDiva.com, an internet forum especially for women skiers, where women skiers can connect with one another to talk about everything and anything ski-related.