An Epic Day for An Epic Cause

Join us on Christmas Day, December 25, 2012, as we attempt to ski an epic day to support an epic cause. We'll be skiing approximately 70,000 vertical feet in a 7 hour window, raising money to support a local charitable organization. Please support us by donating to our cause, or by buying raffle tickets for your chance to win one of many prizes that have been donated by several Vail Village and Eagle County retailers.

The previous Vail Mountain record for most vertical feet in one ski day is 68,748. We hope to break that record eventhough the mountain will be open one hour less than when the previous record was set.

Our Story

Let's face it, 2011 was not a fruitful ski season. With snow-falls few and far between, especially early in the season, Vail Mountain was barely half open when we visited in December. Determined to enjoy our trip even with the baron back bowls, a group of 7 friends and family members set out early Christmas Day morning with a goal of skiing 50,000 vertical feet. In the end, we accomplished our goal and collectively surpassed 350,000 feet. Against the tough early-season odds, we had an "Epic Day" at Vail with EpicMix even writing an article about our endeavor.

http://buzz.snow.com/snow-squad/b/weblog/archive/2012/01/26/350k-i-d-call-that-an-epic-day.aspx

This year we're taking it one step further by upping our goal to 70,000 vertical feet in a single day (a Vail Mountain single day record) and turning out adventure into a fundraising opportunity. To put our plan (70,000 feet) into perspective:

• At 2,200 feet per ride, that's approximately 32 trips on the Eagle Bahn Gondola.
• Over 4 hours spent sitting in a gondola cabin
• Vail Mountain is only open from 8:30a-3:30p in the winter, leaving just 3 hours for skiing - that's over 23,000 feet skiied per hour.
• Average runs of about 5 minutes top to bottom, including gondola loading and unloading time. If we average 6 minutes per run, we won't reach our goal.
• The current single day Vail Resorts record is held by Charles Alexander (121,072 feet in 11.5 hours at Keystone, also a World Record). If we achieve our goal, our average feet skiied per minute will be right in line with Charles' accomplihsment.

Some people walk miles to raise funds, others run marathons to support causes. We're skiing.

Who's We?

The 2011 group consisted of Jordan Marton, Steve Marton, Michael Ainbinder, Scott Fishman, Jordan Fishman, and instructor Holly LaFontaine and her husband. The 2012 group is comprised of returning skiiers Jordan Marton, Steve Marton, and Michael Ainbinder, and new addition Sam Marton. Others are welcome to join in our event throughout the day.

The Vail Valley Foundation

Money raised will be donated to the Vail Valley Foundation. Since 1981, the non-profit Vail Valley Foundation has been committed to providing leadership in athletic, cultural, educational and community-based endeavors to enhance and sustain the quality of life in the Vail Valley for its residents and guests. Please help support this important, and beneficial organization.

http://www.vvf.org/vvf/

Sponsors

Vail Resorts - Thanks to Vail Resorts for supporting our efforts by making special lift arrangements to help us achieve our goal.

EpicMix - Thanks for for donating photographers dedicated to our cause to help capture memories from the day.

Eric Simon (Vail Resorts) - Thanks for being our point person with this endeavor and helping us with logistics.

Vail Sports (Retailer) - Thanks for donating prizes that will be awarded in our raffle.