Troy Murphy has one thing on his mind, the dream of Olympic Gold at the South Korea Winter Games 2018. His event: Moguls.

Murphy was born in Kennebunk and lived his early childhood years in Biddeford before he went off to school in Bethel. An acrobatic child, he found life on skis an intriguing challenge – and by age 11 he was doing backflips in the backyard over homemade snow ramps.

His Dad, Matt Murphy, attached a motorcycle rim to a tree in the back yard and, with a mooring rope salvaged from a Portland boat dock, he constructed a backyard rope tow powered by the engine of an Italian tractor. Resembling a Rube Goldberg cartoon, the contraption actually worked and soon Troy and his buddies were skiing and jumping whenever there was snow to be found on the ground.

Fast forward to 2014 when Troy finds himself an alternate on the USA Olympic Squad competing in the Winter Games in Sochi. In 2015, in a near perfect mogul run at the National Championships, Murphy takes first prize and becomes the 2015 National Champion. You can relive his amazing wining effort on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKhJQOLquKo.

When I spoke with Troy last week, he was in Finland training and competing with the U.S. Ski Team. Despite his numerous competitive successes, his accolades and his awards, Troy needs to raise his own money to keep training and competing. For the past couple of years Troy has been organizing fundraising events to help defray his expenses. This year is no different. In October, he organized a Bethel golf tournament.

However, his major fundraising event for this year will be happening on Dec. 27, two days after Christmas, at the Sunday River Resort. It’s a dinner, auction and raffle event. The event will take place in the Barker Lodge up at Sunday River, soon after the lifts stop running. Cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. followed by a lasagna dinner prepared by Bethel chef Brian Scheidegger. The chef is an avid skier himself and is looking forward to preparing his signature dish for the well wishers at the event.

Tickets for the event are $25 per person and include the three course meal, coffee, tea and dessert. The Barker bartender will be on hand hosting a cash bar.

The auction will be of two types, a silent auction and a live bidding war. Items at the auction include: Beer for a Year from Shipyard Brewing, Bruins & Celtics Tickets, Skydiving and Whitewater Rafting trips, three pairs of the highly prized Japanese made Ogasaka Alpine skis, a vintage USA Ski Team Sochi 2014 Coaches Jacket and warm up pants, a Patagonia down parka and numerous other items of ski and snowboard paraphernalia. The fundraising event could be a fine way to end a day of skiing at Sunday River and give a big lift to Troy’s quest for gold.

Keeping his Olympic hopes alive will require untold hours of training – in the gym and on the slopes. Staying healthy and avoiding injury until the Olympic trials is another hurdle. When you are spinning and twisting in big air at warp speed executing a Back Doublefall to Cork 1080 (Troy’s signature mind boggling jump), you are treading a thin line between airborne excellence and potential disaster.

When Troy needs a break from the rigors of competition he escapes to the back country of Alaska where he is exploring his passion for big mountain, backcountry skiing.

To purchase tickets to his fundraising event on Dec. 27 or to make a donation to Troy’s fund raising goal, visit the website murphyt.brownpapertickets.com.

Hopes are high that Troy will triumph and that the unusually warm weather pattern that has lingered over Maine since mid-October will soon make way for a massive nor’easter that will blanket our region in ample drifts of winter white.

— Greg Morell is an avid ski, snowboard and Cross Country enthusiast. He can be reached at Morell.Gregory@gmail.com.