Newsletter Q1 2025

Our Mission:

To leverage the experience of outdoor pursuits, wildland exploration, and development of artistic talent to extend and expand the light and love Nick brought to our world. Our Goal: To raise over $1M, give away $100K annually, and positively impact at least 1,000 people every year.

Dear Friend of the Nick Would Foundation,

All of us here in Nick’s hometown of Steamboat Springs might still be in the grip of Old Man Winter, but the days are getting longer. And as the temperatures warm up, so does our continued love for Nick’s spirit and legacy. Please enjoy this quarterly update from the Nick Would Foundation, which is ushering in another busy year spreading Nick’s love and helping people explore and preserve the outdoors and develop their artistic talent. Read on for the latest information from the foundation and remember…Nick Would.

Nick Would in the News

It’s been an incredibly productive second year at the foundation and we are pleased to announce we surpassed our annual goals in grants, donations, and lives touched. We continue to listen and learn from others and are committed to delivering on our mission. We are deeply humbled by the support and guidance we’ve received and thrilled to report we’ve now raised over $530,000 (over $200,000 in the last 12 months), given away over $50,000, and have plans to grant more than $30,000 in highly targeted donations in 2025. We are inspired by your collective kindness and intent on delivering more love, more gratitude, more humility, more fun, and yes, a more enriched life to over 1,000 people in 2025. This is how we extend and expand the light and love Nick brought to our world.

2024 Grant Recap

The Nick Would Foundation plans to give away more than $30,000 in 2025, continuing the foundation’s mission of helping people explore and preserve the outdoors and develop artistic talent. The 2024 grant cycle donated the following grants in Nick’s name totaling $29,000:

Yampa Valley Autism Partnership: $3,000

Integrated Community’s Newcomer Ski Program: $3,000

5 Point Adventure Film Festival/Nick Would Video Contest: $4,000

Steamboat Springs Free Summer Concert Series: $9,000

California’s Windansea Surf Club/Me Water Foundation, teaching youth/those with disabilities how to surf: $2,000

Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club: $8,000

Have an idea for a recipient? Send your suggestion to: nickwould11@gmail.com

That’s a wrap! The first annual Nick Would Video Competition was a resounding success, awarding prizes to winners Tomas Niedermeyer, Ethan Macfarland, and Ethan Maines (view their entries here: nickwould.com/video-contest-24).

The 5 Point Film Festival has signed on again to help with this year’s video competition, so keep your eyes peeled for official registration information coming soon. Congratulations to all our contestants! Roll ‘em!

NWF Sponsors IFSA Steamboat Big Mountain Competition

In January, the Nick Would Foundation sponsored the IFSA Steamboat Big Mountain Freeride competition hosted by the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, which was a huge success. Both the discipline and club were close to Nick’s heart (ever see him land his double backie?) and we were stoked to be a part of it. The event drew more than 200 participants ranging in age from 12 to 20, converging on East Face for high-flying fun and the main stage at the base for the awards ceremony. Helmets off to NWF board member Jack Craig for helping MC and promote the foundation. “For our first time sponsoring the event it was a tremendous success and this is just the beginning,” says Nick’s dad Dan. “It’s the perfect addition to our event line-up.”

Free Summer Concert/NWF Silent Auction Fundraiser – June 21 (Saturday)

With the great success of last year’s VIP tent at the Steamboat Free Summer Concert Series, we are excited to do it again! Mark your calendars for Andy Frasco & The U.N., an American blues-rock band from Los Angeles with a show that will get you grooving at Nick Would Foundation’s VIP tent on June 21, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. New this year, we’re holding a Silent Auction Fundraiser online at www.nickwould.com, offering a slew of great items to bid on, with the bidding period ending at noon Sunday, June 22.

Have something to donate? Send us an email at nickwould11@gmail.com.

As with last year, the VIP tent will have schwag, food and beverages for all supporting party-goers. Don’t miss out—it’s going to be a blast! There will also be a barbecue for friends, family and out-of-towners at Wild Mountain Ranch following the concert on Sunday, June 22, at 3 p.m., complete with a band, foods, drinks and more. Yeehaw! (and Yeeewwww!)

2nd Annual Nick Would Surf Contest – La Jolla Shores Beach – September 13 (Saturday)

Cowabunga! With more than 70 competitors and even more spectators, last year’s first annual Nick Would Foundation amateur surf competition at Kellogg Park on La Jolla Shores Beach in beautiful La Jolla, CA, was so successful and fun we’re doing it again. With gratitude to the Windansea Surf Club, this fun, low-key surf competition is a blast for participants and spectators alike (judges look for overall “steeze” more than anything else). With a variety of age categories, everyone is included, from youngsters on up to Legends. Participants and spectators will enjoy food and libations, as well as surf comp T-shirts for purchase, raffle items, and more. Come soak in the sun, sand, and salt and join us for this fun event. Wax up your board and get ready to drop in! Visit www.nickwould.com for more info.

Want to help spread the Nick Would word (and look stylie doing so)? Hats, shirts, buffs, and more headline the Nick Would merchandise we have available for sale. Choose from ballcaps, new, hot-off-the-press T-shirts, buffs, holiday ornaments and more—all from sustainable lifestyle clothing brand West Lyfe here in Steamboat. Best yet, 40% of proceeds go directly to the Nick Would Foundation. Don’t be left out! Purchase your Nick Would merchandise here or at www.nickwould.com.

Sticker Slappin’

Shameless sticker-slappin’ plug: Remember to slap your Nick Would Foundation stickers anywhere you think Nick would want them and upload a photo to the foundation’s Instagram page, describing the where and why of your slap. Happy slappin’!