Do your bit!

Tue 04 August 09

How many places in the UK can you snowboard in 3 days in the first UK Snowball Rally? Not fancy that then how about the Everest Challenge - 2 days over 4 resorts and all the proceeds go to charity. nice.

Youth Charity Snow-Camp launches The Snowball Rally 2009!

Teams wanted for the UK’s first ever skiing and snowboarding 3-day fundraising road trip!

Snow-Camp hope that The Snowball Rally will capture the imagination of skiers and snowboarders across the country who will enter teams to compete against each other to win masses of snowsports prizes and the Snowball Rally Cup!

The Rally challenges teams to plan their route around each of the countries 43 dry and artificial slopes over a 3-day period between 18th and 21st November 2009. Setting off from the Milton Keynes SNO!zone, teams collect points for every slope they ride, with the points available increasing for slopes further from the starting point. At the finish on the 21st November, the team
with the most points wins!

Snow-Camp Director Dan Charlish said, ‘It’s like a cross between the Cannonball Run and the Gumball Rally only with skiing and snowboarding thrown in! Nobody has ever skied or boarded every slope in the country before...it’s going to be a fantastic challenge, great fun and accessible to anyone with a vehicle, some skis and a sense of adventure!’

The idea for the Snowball Rally was dreamt up by two Snow-Camp volunteers, Rich Brown and Steve Marsh, who worked as volunteers on Snow-Camp’s programmes in the French Alps this winter. After their experience in the Alps they wanted to launch a competitive event that would
bring together teams of snowsports enthusiasts to raise funds for Snow-Camp’s ongoing work, and have a great time in the process!

Rich Brown said, ‘After seeing first hand the positive effect Snow-Camp had on all the young people involved, I wanted to help raise money so more and more young people can benefit from this unique charity. I hope that through the Snowball Rally this will be achieved while simultaneously providing a fun and challenging experience. I'll be doing my best to do all 43 slopes!’

The charity hopes up to 20 teams will enter this first Snowball Rally, with all the information required to register and plan your route on the web pages www.snow-camp.co.uk/snowballrally. Team members pledge to raise a minimum of £250 for Snow-Camp’s work by participating, with Just Giving sites set up to support each team’s sponsorship efforts.

Snow-Camp are seeking corporate sponsorship from companies who would like to be involved with the event from the outset. Dominic de Terville, Snow-Camp’s Chairman and Head of Sponsorship, said, ‘We are hoping to attract companies who share Snow-Camp’s ethos and are keen to both reach and reach out to young people. Sponsorship of the Snowball Rally offers the
benefit of being associated with an innovative and original event alongside great visibility through publicity - with the added bonus of knowing all sponsorship funds support Snow-Camp’s future work’. Interested companies can download the sponsorship pack from the Snow-Camp website.
The Snowball Rally will conclude with a huge party held at the Milton Keynes SNO!zone, where the slope will be open late just for Snowball Rally competitors to complete the final slope of their challenge. The Avalanche Suite will then host the after party where everyone can share their road trip stories over a well earned drink!

To enter your team, discuss sponsorship, find out more about the event or arrange an interview with Snow-Camp staff please check out the Snow-Camp website www.snow-camp.co.uk, contact Dan or Rich at snowballrally@snowcamp.co.uk or call 07930 695384.

Everest Challenge Ski-a-thon launched to raise funds for Snow-Camp

‘Using snow-sports to teach young people life-skills is what makes Snow-Camp such a fantastic project’ Gerry Sutcliffe (Sports Minister) Snow-Camp, one of Britain’s most innovative youth charities, will be holding its first charity Ski-a-thon in the Austrian Alps on January 29th and 30th 2010.

The Snow-Camp Everest Challenge gives snowsport enthusiasts the opportunity to fundraise for charity by doing something they love to do: skiing or snowboarding, but like they have never done before. The challenge is designed for competent skiers and boarders who will endure skiing 57,000 vertical feet, twice the height of Mt Everest, over two non-stop days of skiing.

Money raised will go toward Snow-Camp’s work supporting inner-city young people through skiing, snowboarding and life-skills development. (See www.snow-camp.co.uk for more details of the charities work.)

Participants in the challenge, which Snow-Camp hope will exceed 60 for this first ever Ski-a-thon, will be guided through a range of peaks and valleys, hitting one slope after another from dawn until dusk, whatever the weather. Parker Lake, Snow-Camp’s Ambassador for the challenge is clear about the task ahead, ‘We'll be the first ones up the lifts in the morning, and we'll be riding down the last slope under the setting sun each day. We aim to finish the challenge no matter what Mother Nature throws at us - wind, fog, ice, snowfall or even too much sun!’

The skiing itself, while intense, will have its memorable moments: the middle of the course passes over the top of Hochkönig – a little known, but superb ski area that is usually empty in late January. After putting in two solid nine hours day’s on the snow, participants will finally get to rest weary muscles in the Badhofgastein hot baths before tucking into an Alpine style celebration dinner.

Once the Everest Challenge itself is over, super-keen punters may choose to return to the slopes on Sunday for a free ski day while most will stay in the mountain village of Zell am See to recover before the journey home.

The Everest Challenge takes place 29 – 30 January 2010 and is open to all competent “red slope” skiers and snowboarders. It costs only £185 to book the event (including flights, accommodation, transfers and ski passes). All participants commit to raise a minimum of £1,500 for Snow-Camp’s work. Book online at www.snow-camp.co.uk/everestchallenge or call Dan Charlish on +44 (0) 1273 241383 for more details.

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