Thanks to a collaborative project with Subaru and Nordica USA, Champlain College students have been able to combine their love of skiing, digital filmmaking and marketing into a unique partnership and internship opportunity.

And for avid skier Sam Parker, a junior marketing student, he earned a sponsorship from Nordica and Subaru to be part of its 2013 XV Crosstrek Run promotion tour. Add in Champlain Business and Management Professor Tom Myers, who has worked with Nordica in the past, and suddenly the doors opened to bringing in Champlain's filmmaking, international business and marketing students into the project.

Back in the spring of 2012, Subaru and Nordica were forming a team of talented young skiers to be part of the 2013 XV Crosstrek Run. They wanted to collaborate to attract a new younger demographic. "In the spring of 2012, I e-mailed the team at Nordica to see if they were interested in bringing me on board for this," said Parker. "Not only did they make me a part of the tour but they also offered me a sponsorship. Come fall, I registered for the MKT 290 internship class with Professor Tom Myers, who has a connection at Nordica as well. It was nice to have him be connected so he could follow our progress throughout the semester."

"Nordica came to me last February with their new marketing vision for the younger generation," said Myers, associate professor of international business and management. "Naturally, we assembled the most talented students-skiers we could find in international business, marketing, graphic design, and digital film to help drive this initiative."

Zach Delasin '14, an International Business major at Champlain College, received his internship with Nordica after contributing to a focus group for the company facilitated by Professor Myers. "From there I worked with Tom [Myers] and Richard Morin from Nordica in order to set up an internship for the summer, not directly related to the Crosstrek Run, which lasted throughout the fall semester while I was in Shanghai, China."

As more Champlain Students were recruited to the team from the marketing, international business, and digital film backgrounds, a team was formed that met weekly to plan the event. "Working with Sam McGuire (Marketing '13) and Evan Williams to plan the Subaru/Nordica XV Crosstrek run was sweet. We planned the kick-off party, the route that skiers Liam McKinley and Luke Hagearty are taking, their schedule, and contacted Ski Mountains all over the country to see if they wanted to participate in the tour." Parker continued, "In addition, I was able to be part of the first leg of the tour because I am part of the Nordica Amateur team. Being part of an event that I helped to create and seeing it all work out was great."

The second team of students from Champlain College have been receiving footage from free skiers Luke Hagearty and Liam McKinley and packaging them into short videos. Max Erickson, a first-year student who has gained a lot of attention in the ski film industry, has done editing of the film. He, along with other students, agrees that the hands-on projects done in class have prepared him for this kind of work.

"A major component of our Champlain College curriculum has always been for our students to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life work experience within their major fields," said Myers.

"Real world experience, especially the experience I have received through Nordica, has helped me to take what I have learned in the classroom and utilize it in a real world situation. It has also helped me throughout this semester put what I am learning now into context," said Delasin. "This experience has helped me develop specific skills, such as video editing, that I am utilizing currently as I launch my own business, and I am sure it will help me with positions I will take in the future."

"I have managed literally hundreds of students performing internships and special projects, including Subaru's Rally Racing Team, all over the world since 2001," Myers continued, "But the icing on the cake for many of these students is that they are getting college credit for the work they love to do anyway! This XV Crosstrek Run is major WIN/WIN/WIN for Subaru, for Nordica, and for Champlain College!"

Parker agreed, "This experience will definitely benefit my studies at Champlain because it helped me network and gave me the real life experience in the ski industry, and that's really where I want to be after I graduate because of my background skiing." He explained, "This experience could mean many things for me in the future, as well. I am still working with Nordica as a team rider and also helping out as much as possible, which will hopefully look good to other companies once I've graduated and looking for a career. Until then I'll continue to work with Nordica and also work to find more internships in this field of work."

About the Subaru Nordica XV Crosstrek Run

Over the past 10 years, Subaru of America, Inc. and Nordica USA have partnered together bringing common philosophies to adventure enthusiasts. "Subaru and Nordica have worked together for a decade to help build their brands and grow consumer awareness of the incredible products each offers," said Andy Hare, director of product and promotions, Nordica USA. "When Subaru announced the unveiling of the all-new XV Crosstrek and explained the target audience, it was instantly clear we could help because it is one that we have been targeting for a few years now."

Two talented free skiers, Luke Hagearty and Liam McKinley, are traveling from coast-to-coast hitting major mountain resorts and events along the way, while piloting the all-new Subaru 2013 XV Crosstrek. Digital content, produced by Max Erickson '16, will give fans a look into the free skiers lives, their slope-side skills, and the versatility and capability of the XV Crosstrek:

Episode 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5Jvzyp5Ak

Episode 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9hoM-n3C4k

Episode 3 http://www.multivu.com/players/English/59476-xv-crosstrek-run/

Follow along with Subaru and Nordica

Fans can follow the journey on Subaru & Nordica social channels and at http://www.multivu.com/players/English/59476-xv-crosstrek-run/. The media site features the schedule of XV Crosstrek Run stops, background on the free skiers, photos and videos.

• Subaru: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare
• Nordica: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram
• Twitter and Instagram users can follow along at #XVCrosstrekRun; the official hashtag
• For more information and a schedule of the stops, visit the XV Crosstrek Run site

About Subaru of America, Inc.

Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 dealers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit www.subaru.com.

About Nordica USA

Nordica is dedicated to relentless product innovation for the benefit of all types of skiing. We are in the perpetual pursuit of creating products that perform better, more reliably and ultimately make the sport more fun. Our passion is for the progression of the sport and shows through new products that make the experience more enjoyable. Nordica USA has been the country's premier winter sporting goods supplier for over 50 years. Founded 1938 in Italy, Nordica soon became the World's leading ski boot producer. Nordica USA is currently a leading equipment supplier to the United States Ski Team as well as the Professional Ski Instructors of America. Nordica USA is a subsidiary of Nordica, SPA (Italy) and is located in West Lebanon, NH.