Hilary Lindh started skiing as a family activity, for fun.

At 16-years-old, she won the World Junior Championship downhill title.

A few years later, she won a silver medal in the downhill at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France, one of three Olympic Games she competed in.

Not to mention a slew of World Cup victories.

But the Juneau-born skier is quick to point out that it all began with family fun.

"So I have an idea of what young ski racers are capable of and what they can do,” said Lindh, who was on the U.S. national ski team for some 13 years.

"For me, it's always been something I did with my family, beyond ski racing, that's

the more important picture.”

Now a resident of Whitehorse, Lindh is the coordinator of the Husky Snow Stars, a seven-step skill development program for young skiers aged 5-12, which is promoted by Alpine Canada, the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation (CSCF) and the Provincial Ski Associations.

Alpine Ski Association Yukon will hold its first annual Sportslife Membership Night at The Hougen Centre from 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursday night.

The registration and information night will offer special discounts on gear and equipment at the store during registration.

This year will mark Lindh's second year as program coordinator, though she is a Level 2 CSCF certified coach and former coach at Whistler.

"Probably one of our biggest challenges is that there's so many sports and activities to do here all year round,” she said.

"A really big part of it at this age is getting in miles and just skiing in all sorts of different conditions and terrain, and learning just through experience.”

For the first year, the program will offer Saturdays and Sundays for advanced/keen skiers at $500, and $300 for those who want to ski just on Sundays. The times run from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Mount Sima.

"We're trying to retain the kids that we've had over the past few years, and keep moving them up,” Lindh said.

"There were kids who wanted to be skiing everyday if they weren't in school, and their parents were out there with them and they wanted to sign up for whatever they could, so that was good to see.”

The program is designed to introduce kids to ski racing through fun drills, to continue development in the skiers who have been involved with the program in the past and to attract new skiers to the program, Lindh added.

For more information, visit www.mountsima.com/contents/alpine.html.