On a winter morning in Tahoe, before the lifts start spinning and before the mountains fill with tracks, a small group gathers in the warm hum of a ski shop. There’s the scent of wax, racks of boots, rows of skis and boards, laughter behind the counter. And a quiet, electric mix of excitement and nerves in the air.
For many Send It participants, this is the moment it all becomes real.
They’ve traveled from across the country to be here. Some are stepping into ski boots for the first time in their lives. Others haven’t felt strong in their bodies for months or years after hospital stays, surgeries, fatigue, and the often long and disorienting road of cancer treatment. They arrive carrying stories you can’t see. Hopeful, but unsure.
And the very first place they go is Tahoe Dave’s. As the door opens, they’re met with high fives, warm smiles, and staff who know why they’re there, and who make them feel like they belong. The nervous energy softens. This first stop matters and sets the tone for the entire experience.
Tahoe Dave’s doesn’t feel like a store. It feels like being welcomed into a family. That’s not an accident. That’s culture.
Long before Send It’s first winter program in 2015, Send It Founder, Jamie worked behind the counter and in the tuning shop at Tahoe Dave’s — immersed in the rhythms of mountain life. Dave Wilderotter – ski bum to his core – cultivated a culture where the outdoors wasn’t just something you did, but something you belonged to. Tahoe Dave’s helped shape Jamie’s belief that time outside is about far more than recreation — it’s about connection, identity, and finding your people.
When Dave passed the torch to Autumn and John Lincoln in 2024, he did so knowing they would carry this culture forward.
Tahoe Dave’s has always been known in the community as a place that takes care of its own. Employees stay for years, friendships run deep, people are known by name. There’s a quiet understanding that this is more than a job…it’s a shared love of the mountains and the people who send it together.
That same spirit is exactly what Send It is built on.
So when participants are outfitted with boots, skis, poles, boards, helmets, and even outerwear, (all of it generously donated, year after year) it’s about far more than gear. In a sport where the cost of entry alone can be prohibitive, Tahoe Dave’s removes one of the biggest barriers to access before a participant ever clicks into a binding.
They don’t just hand over equipment, they open the door to adventure, confidence, and community. And they do it in the most Tahoe way possible: quietly, generously, and with heart.
When Send It’s participants step onto the snow for the first time, they don’t do it as strangers in a new place. They do it as people who have already been welcomed in. This is mountain culture at its finest: not just about performance or powder days or gear talk, but about taking care of people. About showing up. About creating spaces where everyone, no matter their story, gets to belong.
For Send it participants, Tahoe Dave’s is where the trip truly begins. And for both organizations, this partnership is a reflection of something deeper than logistics or sponsorship. It’s a shared belief that the mountains are for everyone, and that the way you welcome someone into them can change their life.
