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The cost of building an Olympic tradition is not cheap.

This week, Bryan Fletcher and Davis Miller were reminded again of just how cost-prohibitive it can be. The skiers were informed that the U.S. Ski Team would make no effort to reimburse them for the cost of traveling to Roveniami, Finland, for the World Junior Championships. In the past, the team has rewarded top-30 finishes by paying for the $3,500 trip.

Now, it's just another high-dollar item that the parents of Olympic hopefuls must pay to support the rich skiing tradition of Steamboat Springs.

Continuing tradition is not easy.

To get to the Olympics, athletes must avoid a number of potholes, including season-ending injuries, streaks of bad luck and a variety of financial challenges that would make the most talented skiers think twice before pulling on those red, white and blue jerseys.

Throughout the years, thousands of athletes have come to Steamboat to pursue Olympic dreams -- 56 have made it.

Continuing tradition is not cheap.

It requires costly training, expensive equipment and lots of travel just to make a team that's increasingly unwilling to foot the bill.

For the skiers, though, the work and cost is a small price to end up like Nelson Carmichael, Shannonn Dunn or Travis Mayer -- three skiers of thousands who not only reached their Olympic dreams but also cashed in with a medal.

Luckily, in Steamboat, there are people other than parents who care about our skiing legacy.

People such as Marvin Crawford, a man who understood the challenges of getting to the Olympic Games, both as an athlete and as a parent.

He went to Cortina, Italy, in 1956, placing 23rd, and was an alternate in 1952 when the games were held in Olso, Norway.

All three of his boys were skiers, and he watched his youngest son, Gary, make it to the 1980 and 1988 Olympic Games.

So this week, when his wife and sons decided to award the first Marvin Crawford Memorial Scholarship to Fletcher and Miller, it seemed fitting.

It could be viewed as a small investment by a man who profited so much from the Olympic tradition of Steamboat. But I pre--fer to look at it as an investment in the fabric of our community, and one of the reasons that this town has produced so many great Olympic stories.

The scholarships are only a small part of the money the athletes, their families and friends have invested in the tradition. But a hundred years from now, residents will give little thought to how much it cost for a single athlete to get to the Olympics, but instead how much we all profited from the efforts of those who made the journey.