Mark Nadell and Kevin Murnane 2020 XC Junior Nationals Legacy Sponsorship

The Mark Nadell and Kevin Murnane 2020 XC Junior Nationals Legacy Sponsorship was created to honor two men who shared a lifelong passion for the outdoors and cross country skiing. This Legacy Sponsorship will honor Kevin and Mark’s love of XC skiing throughout the week-long Junior National Championship events held at Donner Summit in March 2020, and in turn, perpetuate the love of skiing and racing to the next generation of cross-country skiers. 

The Organizing Committee’s goal is to raise $20,000 in honor of these two men and support the 2020 Junior National Cross Country Ski Championships. A generous donation of $5,000 has already been secured, but we need your help raising the remaining $15,200 by December 31st, 2019! Please consider making a donation of $150 or greater to help us reach our goal! Our hope is that 100 friends, family, and those whose lives were touched by Kevin and Mark will support this effort by making a donation.  In addition, the JN OC welcomes your volunteer time at JN’s in honor of Mark and Kevin.  

Mark Nadell (aka “Captain Nordic”) passed away in 2017, surrounded by his wife and children at 60 years young. Mark had been under treatment for metastatic melanoma for a little over two years, but continued skiing, passionately coaching, and operating his many businesses throughout much of his treatment. He was truly a modern day renaissance man, with many interests and talents. Mark loved any kind of adventure with his friends in the mountains. He ran his own graphic design business, coached the Truckee ACMS Nordic ski team for 16 years, specialized in sports photography, and traded off playing basketball on the pick-up court and music at any opportunity he came across. Mark built the Alder Creek Middle School XC team into Far West’s biggest Nordic ski team. His incredible enthusiasm (and Middle school sense of humor) brought over 90 middle schoolers to the sport of Nordic skiing each year; a legacy that will spread and be handed down for generations. 

Mark’s proudest accomplishments were with his family, and his spirit lives on in the lives of his many friends and ski team families who were touched by his energy, enthusiasm, and passion. He will not be forgotten. 

Kevin Murnane was one of those rare individuals whose friendly attitude and passion for his job touched just about everyone he came across. In 2015, the small community of Tahoe City was devastated by the loss of Kevin after his loss in his battle with mental illness, but his skiing legacy lives on.  

Kevin discovered the two biggest loves of his life at the Montecito-Sequoia Lodge on the edge of Sequoia National Park: managing cross-country ski operations and an Australian woman by the name of Valli Dart who would become his wife. Later, two more loves arrived in the form of his daughter Lily, and son Kai. Kevin’s daughter Lily will be competing on her home-turf in 2020, making this her first and last Junior National races at home. 

In 1999, Kevin and Valli were hired to operate the Tahoe Cross Country Ski Area, where they created a relaxed and friendly place with a strong emphasis on the opportunity to discover cross-country skiing. Kevin often headed out cross-country skiing early in the morning because he knew that once he passed through the doors of Tahoe XC for work he would most likely be too busy to get back out.  

Kevin was always kind and helpful, had a dry sense of humor and an inventive mind. Kevin was simply an incredibly warm and nice guy who was genuinely interested in the lives of his friends. He was a close friend to a lot of people, all of whom sorely miss him.