Stephensons Share Passion For Skiing

The first time Mike Stephenson went skiing he hated it. The prospective new co-owner of Ski Bluewood was 18 then and up on Mission Ridge with other members of a church group. He found himself at the top of the hill with no experience and only cold, wet, downhill trauma standing in the way of lunch. "It was horrible, and I was done," he said. "They had to force me to come back and try it again." Eventually, Stephenson, a 53-year-old Kennewick entrepreneur, began to enjoy it. Skiing became such a big part of his life that he wanted to share the joy of it with others, starting with his own boys. He was in his early 30s.

Kelly Stephenson, 47, his wife of two years, wasn't much older when she first tried skiing at one of the four mountains within driving dis­tance

of her hometown, Post Falls, Idaho. She also raised kids who took to the slopes. Then, almost three ski seasons ago, with their previ­ous marriages behind them, they found themselves in the singles line at Schweitzer and shared a lift together. The rest is history. Fast forward to spring 2010. The couple was work­ing at Ski Bluewood as in­structors and "could see the writing on the wall," Kelly said. Owners Stan and Nancy Goodell were getting older. In May, they announced they could no longer carry the torch and were looking for new owners to take over.

The older couple talked to the younger couple, and before they knew it, they were among several parties with an interest in pursuing a purchase.

"It all started pretty in­nocently," Kelly said during an interview with the Times at the Country Cupboard in Dayton. "We talked about it for fun, but we never thought we'd be sitting here now. We felt Ski Bluewood was such an important resource for kids and families that it couldn't simply go away." The couple never thought the talks would get too seri­ous, taking a wait-and-see attitude while the Goodells talked to others. But when the dust settled among the various parties, "we were it," Kelly said. Once it was time to fish or cut bait, the Stephensons had a ready audience. Mike had been sharing Bluewood's po­tential fate with people in his circle, and when a purchase seemed like a real prospect, several investors stepped up to help make the deal come together. "It was great," Mike said. "They simply said 'Let's go.'" The Stephensons said they are deeply grateful to their partners, who prefer to remain anonymous, for tak­ing

the plunge during a time when cash is scarce and the poor economy has reduced ski traffic to resorts all over the country.

But their partners' finan­cial commitments are as much a business investment as they are an endorsement of the Stephensons' energy, capabilities and sincerity. Stan Goodell, who has known Mike Stephenson for as long as the younger man has worked at Bluewood, said the long-time instruc­tor and his wife were the best choice to take over the mountain. "I'm pleased," Goodell said. "Of all the people who looked at Bluewood, he is, in my mind, the best. His love for the sport is there and they have a strong focus on young people." Between them and their 20-something kids, they have some all-in-the-family skills that cover many aspects of running a ski resort. The Stephensons are an energetic and imaginative, yet down-to-earth couple with ready smiles and a practical sense of humor. They are excited yet slightly overwhelmed by the enor­mous

task of taking over a ski mountain with more than 115 employees and thousands of annual visitors. But they appear to have the experience, availability and passion to make the re­Ski gionally beloved mountain a success and expand it as a re­gional recreational resource, according to those who know them and those they have met since signing their purchase and sale agreement with the Goodells. Mike Stephenson co-owns Pasco-based Professional Ag Services, a successful en­terprise that applies infrared technology to help growers solve irrigation and insect infestation problems.

Stephenson was raised on a family farm in Mesa, a town of about 400 people north of the Tri-Cities. He graduated from Columbia Basin College with an Ap­plied Science degree in Ag­riculture and Chemistry and started his own seed business before co-founding Profes­sional Ag Services in 1987.

Stephenson is a PSIA Cer­tified Level III ski instructor with more than a decade and a half of experience at Blue­wood and was the training director at its ski school. Since his work is largely seasonal and the company well established, Stephenson said he can take the winter months off to be at Ski Blue­wood. Ski instruction will continue to be his focus on the mountain. Kelly Stephenson was born and raised in Post Falls when the town still had only about 1,200 residents and "you could hear the high school football announcer from your house."

She went to Lewis-Clark State College in Coeur d'Alene and graduated with a Bachelor's in Business and Communications. For 14 years, she worked for Fred Meyer in Northern Idaho and Spokane. Then, she worked for fiveyears as assistant director for the col­lege from which she gradu­ated. She currently has a part-time job as administrator at the Faith Assembly church the Stephensons attend in Pasco - a job that's flex­ible

enough to allow her the time she needs to spend at Bluewood. She is a PSIA Certified Level I ski instruc­tor whose focus at Bluewood was more on younger kids. In her new role as co-owner of Bluewood, Kelly will be "everywhere." "I'm happy when I'm busy," she said. The Stephensons have grown children. Mike's old­est son Travis, 28, who works summers as a captain on a charter boat in Alaska and has a degree in business and finance, will take on a role at Bluewood. Bryant, Mike's 22-year-old brother, is a snow board instructor, EMT and firefighter but still in school. Kelly has a 25-year-old daughter, Brianne, who is events coordinator for the Juvenile Diabetes Founda­tion in Seattle and may have an interest in working for Bluewood if the Stephensons set up a nonprofit to support youth skiing activities. For now, she'll make trips to Bluewood to go skiing. Brianne's younger brother Jack, 22, just graduated with an Associate's Degree in General Studies from North Idaho College and is pursu­On ing certification in outdoor leadership. He wants to be involved in summer activi­ties when those get going at Bluewood but will first get his Bachelor's, Kelly said.

To the Stephensons, ski­ing is very much a family tradition, and that's the spirit they bring to the resort. Tak­ing over Bluewood isn't about the money, they said. "Sure, it has to pay for itself," Mike said. "But it's about experiences. Skiing is a lifelong activity that builds character, and we have a tremendous resource for that here. My oldest (ski) student is 82." the other end of the scale, they joke that perhaps they should post a sign at Bluewood that says: "Every person over the age of 12 has to be accompanied by a child."

The Stephensons love the vicarious joy of seeing a "young student's light bulb" go on and hearing them say how their time on the moun­tain "was the best day in their life." "That replays over and over in my mind," Mike said. "I just had a really hard time imagining that not existing at Bluewood."