Chad Vander Ham Memorial Fund
Chad Vander Ham | 11/20/1974–4/3/2006
Chad Vander Ham grew up in Minneapolis, Minn. where he fell in love with skiing and the outdoors early on. Chad began ski racing at a young age, and dedicated his time to exploring the high peaks. In 1993, he moved to Colorado to earn his BA in Economics from Colorado State University, but always focused on his true calling–powder turns and a beautiful line. While working toward his degree, Chad began to explore the European Alps and found a second home in La Grave, France, where he found a friend and mentor in Doug Coombs. There, Chad honed his skills for ski mountaineering and guiding. On March 11th, 2006, Chad realized his dream and achieved his AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guide Certification and Aspirant Guide status.
Chad was modest and kind, and kept himself open to life’s opportunities. Chad taught us to enjoy each day and to make the most of every situation. He will be dearly missed and remembered by his loving family and friends. His legacy will live on through each of us in our future endeavors.
To honor Chad’s memory and spirit, his family and friends have established an AMGA memorial fund in his name. The intent of this fund is to support aspiring AMGA ski guides.
The recipient will receive a scholarship to the ski program of their choice as long as they meet the prerequisites required for enrollment. The ideal candidate is someone who shares Chad’s passion and dedication to skiing.
Let us know who you are and why you should be the next recipient of the “Nice Fund.”
To qualify for this scholarship, you must:
- Share Chad’s passion, excitement, and dedication to skiing;
- Submit a sub-five-minute video describing who you are and why you love skiing to [email protected]
- Upload a video to YouTube or Vimeo using your YouTube/Vimeo account. Please note, you have to create a YouTube or Vimeo account if you don’t already have one.
