Pauline's Cup
04.20.2024 | Bill Madsen
Each year, Pauline's Cup is awarded to the fastest and most senior lady at the NASTAR National Championships.
The trophy is a memorial award that is presented annually to celebrate Pauline's victory in 2007 and the passion that Pauline Borovicka Arias brought to the NASTAR community. The Florida Ski Council sponsors this award to honor Pauline who was a founder of the FSC.
Pauline's Cup Winners:
2024 Patti Zehner
2023 Nancy Owen
PAST RECIPIENTS
2022: Carla Bouthillier
2021 Martha Madsen
2019 Barbara McCabe
2017 Doris Jones
2016 Doris Jones
2015 Doris Jones
2014 Bryce Maple
2013 Kumiko Goody
2012 Naomi Wain
2011 Marilyn Olen
2010 Nancy Howe
2007 Pauline Borovicka Arias
About Pauline: (From the Florida Ski Council web site)Pauline Borovicka Arias was a self-described NASTAR junky. Pauline did not start skiing until the age of 40 but once she got started there was no stopping her. She could never get enough runs through the gates when the Florida Ski Council visited resorts each winter. She was a cheerleader for the sport and encouraged everyone to give NASTAR a try. She knew that if she could get people to try racing one time, they would be hooked, just like she was. She prodded each of her club members until they would succumb to her persistence, but the reality was, nobody could say no to Paulina.
Pauline was the first woman to be President of the Miami Ski Club and she was a founder of the Florida Ski Council (FSC) which brought together seventeen ski clubs throughout the state. The FSC quickly garnered a powerful presence in the ski industry as resorts bid for their business annually. Snowmass won the bid in 1985 and the resort hosted a ski club team race to established bragging rights within the council. It was a hotly contested battle but with Pauline's help, the Miami Ski Club took home first Florida Cup trophy.
The NASTAR team race became a rallying point during each FSC trip as it brought all of the clubs together for the chance to win "The Cup". The trophy was battered and bruised over the years as the cup was regularly filled with champagne and beer during the festivities but having your ski club's name etched on the cup was a rite of passage for any club.
Skiing was Paulina's escape, she battled cancer numerous times but she was so strong and so positive that she refused to lose the battle. A nurse by trade, she understood the disease and the treatments, and for 40 years she never missed a ski season. In fact, most people never knew that she fought and beat colon cancer, lung cancer twice and breast cancer. Despite the health issues her skiing improved each year and during the 2007 NASTAR National Championships at Steamboat she won the 80+ Platinum Division. She was ecstatic and so was the NASTAR community.
During 2008 Pauline was diagnosed with leukemia and she addressed the disease once again with vigor and positivity. She came to the NASTAR National Championships to cheer for her friends but the treatments had made her bones fragile, so for the first time in 40 years Paulina did not step into her skis. After years of winning the battle Paulina lost the war in 2009.
Paulina's husband Vincent gave the original Florida Cup trophy back to the Florida Ski Council to display but a replica is produced each year in her honor. We remember her spirit every spring at the NASTAR National Championships by rewarding Pauline's Cup to the winner of the ladies 80+ age group. We continue to be inspired by the grace and beauty that the winners bring to the event and we cherish the memory of Pauline Borovicka Arias.