Rexroth family has bonded around skiing

CEDAR RAPIDS - The binding of Rexroth family runs deep in the snow.

Xavier senior Jaxon Rexroth, sophomore Jevin Rexroth and their family share a passion for skiing. This passion has been passed down from generation to generation, each starting at a very young age.

Jason Rexroth, the father of this clan, has loved sharing his skiing knowledge with his children.

'Some of my favorite memories are teaching the kids to ski,” Jason said. 'Jaxon started when he was 1, the day before his second birthday. Jevin and Taylor (an eighth-grader at Regis Middle School) started when they were 2.”

Jason's family would go skiing together every weekend in the winter when he was younger, so they decided to make an investment in the industry that had given them so many memories.

'My grandfather and father and some other owners started the ski area (Snowstar Winter Park in Andalusia, Ill.) when I was 8,” Jason said. 'Once my grandfather passed away, I bought his shares. My father and I then bought out the other owners.”

Jaxon, Jevin and Taylor were involved in the keeping of Snowstar.

'We would go down every summer and help get it ready for the winter and would be down there all the time during the winter,” Jaxon said.

The Rexroth family just sold Snowstar this year, but this has not deterred their fondness for this activity, especially for Jason.

'I was always involved in the ski area. I was working lifts, making snow, bartending, teaching lessons and grooming,” he said.

Skiing also has provided Jason with memories of the family he has created with his wife, Teri.

'A great skiing memory is when Jason and I got engaged,” Teri said. 'He surprised me and asked me if I would marry him when he and I were skiing at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia.”

The Rexroths continue to keep the family passion for skiing alive with ski outings about once every two weeks.

'We have skied as a family every New Year's Day weekend at Chestnut Mountain in Galena since the kids were in elementary school,” Teri said.

This activity also allows the family to escape for weekends.

'It is nice to be able to go and do something with my family, especially with all of our busy lives,” Jevin said.

Skiing has taught this family valuable lessons that can be applied off the hills.

'I have learned most of all that when you fall, always get up, never give up,” Jaxon said.

Jason said skiing is a sport one can do for the rest of their life and that is exactly what the Rexroths intend to do, passing this passion - and the lessons - that come with it down for many generations to come.