Schone Malliet coaches athletes training with the National Brotherhood of Skiers at Aspen Snowmass. Photo by Andre Horton
A city kid, Schone Malliet ’74 didn’t strap on his first pair of skis until he was an adult. He’s since made up for lost time, becoming a prominent figure in the winter sports scene and taking on a mission to give all youth the outdoor winter opportunities he never had.
Bolstering a resume that could be optioned as a feature film (U.S. Marine pilot, ski-racing coach, CEO), Malliet leads a group that turned a dormant New Jersey ski area into a nonprofit whose goal is to expose urban, suburban and rural children in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to snowboarding, as well as Nordic and alpine skiing. Malliet believes “every kid should have access — for the outdoor activity, the opportunity to excel and, hey, just for fun.”
While winter fun is a noble goal in its own right, there’s a lot more to Malliet’s National Winter Activity Center (NWAC) mission than schussing and hot chocolate. Participation in winter sports helps reduce the incidence of childhood obesity, which has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. and is linked to diseases such as Type 2 diabetes. This form of diabetes is growing alarmingly among children and teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Exercise is a key weapon in the fight against the disease, and experts say too many youth stop traditional outdoor play once winter sets in.
Persistence Pays Off
Raised in the South Bronx, Malliet notes, “I grew up on asphalt sports.” (He eventually played basketball at Holy Cross, making the team as a walk-on.) His initial exposure to skiing was less than glorious — and that’s putting it mildly. The introduction came during Marine Corps leave, when a buddy took him skiing in Park City, Utah.
How’d that go? “I had a terrible time,” Malliet says. “Promised I’d never do it again.”
But he’s hard-wired for persistence. He joined a ski club, practiced and “went from being really bad to a little better.” He got good enough to coach, eventually founding and chairing the National Winter Sports Education Foundation (NWSEF), an “enabling foundation,” as Malliet puts it, focused on gathering resources (including financing, best practices and partnerships) to introduce 100,000 urban children to winter sports.