Slopes for Hope

Pledgers and fundraisers raked in donations for the Canadian Cancer Society in Kimberley's successor to the Relay for Life

Kimberley Alpine Resort was chock-full of skiers and snowboarders raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society at the Slopes for Hope event on February 12.

More than 102 participants, either individually or in teams, took on the challenge of skiing the length of the height of Mount Everest in 12 hours, which translates into roughly 16 trips down the resort's main ski run.

The fundraising goal was $25,000 and event chair Jeff Johnson was pleasantly shocked when the final tally reached $36,000—with more money trickling in days after the event.

Slopes for Hope was born out of the cancellation of last year’s Relay for Life and Johnson was pleased with the way the Kimberley community embraced the idea.

“With a brand new event, normally you have to jump through hurdles or you have to introduce people to the idea of what exactly you want to accomplish here,” said Johnson. “Here we have an event that was right off the bat building off what Relay for Life was and basically just took it to a completely different level.”

Beginning at 8:30 a.m. on the Saturday morning, skiers and snowboarders took up the challenge and rode the slopes till 8:30 in the evening.

Two hard-core riders—Fergus Spowart and Ryan Schindler—clocked in 46 runs individually while vying for the Iron Man of Everest title.

Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, owners of Kimberley Alpine Resort, responded enthusiastically to the idea after Relay for Life volunteers pitched it, and support from local businesses helped make the event the success it was, said Johnson.

“I do believe we’re going to see this happen again,” he said, “just because of the reception we had from a number of different people in the community and business owners who were supportive of this as well.”