NM speed skier Ross Anderson to have a day named after him

On the other side of the phone came a laugh. The genuine kind. Like the ones that often happen when something doesn’t seem believable and yet there isn’t any uncertainty.

Like that kind that comes with, say, a winning lottery ticket.

“Because you don’t believe it until it’s in your hand,” Ross Anderson said.

In a way, that’s how the months leading up to Friday have felt for the New Mexico native — and former world-class speed skier and record holder. It’s surely how it will feel on Saturday at Sports Systems when the state officially declares May 8, Ross Anderson Day.

The celebration will include Albuquerque leaders, representatives from the Cheyenne-Araphaho Tribe (of which Anderson is a member) and an official proclamation from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, along with cultural performances and a traditional acknowledgment. All organized with the help of Anderson’s Star 154 Foundation, which aims to introduce Native youth to skiing, improve educational avenues and promote other community outreach opportunities.

Friday will also be Anderson’s 55th birthday.

“What else can you compare it to?” Anderson said of his lottery analogy. “I never thought I'd ever get into a Hall of Fame and now I’m in five. I never thought in my life that I would have a day.

“But hopefully, it helps the younger generation realize that they can do the same, that they can follow their dreams and do something with it.”

Anderson’s dreams? Those grew as he did.

Born at Holloman Air Force Base in 1971, Anderson’s former life lasted two weeks.

Earney and Phyllis Anderson helped provide a new one. The couple adopted him and together, the family soon moved to Durango, Colorado.

It was his father who first introduced Ross to skiing. A former racer in college, Earney quit the sport after witnessing a fellow competitor die colliding with a tree.

Skiing, however, was never too far away, at least recreationally. A professor of economics at Fort Lewis College, Earney was a weekend ski patroller at Purgatory Resort. The place became a backyard snowy playground for Ross; somewhere to learn and hone his skills, and have fun.

“I loved skiing to the point when I remember when I was 8 years old and needing my mom’s iron, I snuck it into my bedroom so I could wax my skis on the dresser,” Anderson said.

The skis came out all right. His bedroom carpet? That took some damage in the form of a burn mark or two.

“It wasn’t a good idea,” he confessed. “But that’s how much I was into it.”

Anderson loved skiing and he was good enough at it that he decided to try to make a career out of it. If not for himself, then for others. Especially for the people who looked like him, those he noticed were absent from televised skiing events and media and podiums.

“I decided, ‘You know what? I’m going to pursue this and see what I can do,’” Anderson said. “It didn’t matter how far I was going to get at that time. I figured I was at least going to try to make a difference for others.”