NSCD challenge: How many vertical feet can you ski in a day?
National Sports Center for the Disabled rethinks fundraising challenge during COVID-19

Businesses and individuals are lining up for the RethinkAbility Ski Challenge at Winter Park Resort, a month-long contest that will test vertical limits.
Due to COVID-19, the National Sports Center for the Disabled has pivoted away from hosting its annual Wells Fargo Ski Cup, one of the center’s biggest fundraisers of the year, in favor of a new challenge that asks individuals and corporations to help raise funds for the organization by tracking how many vertical feet they can ski.
“The RethinkAbility Ski Challenge engages ski and ride enthusiasts from our traditional flagship event, with a socially distanced and exciting way to support the National Sports Center for the Disabled,” said Kim Easton, president and CEO of the NSCD.
The NSCD is one of the nation’s leading providers of adaptive outdoor recreation experiences and offers a diverse lineup of adaptive programming committed to helping individuals with disabilities, their caregivers and the broader community rethink ability.
For this month’s challenge, participants will work as either an individual or on a team as they tally one day of vertical feet sometime from now until Feb. 25.
The Flaik tracking system will log vertical feet for each skier or rider and add it to a cumulative score. Additional points will be gained through fun contests and challenges for each skier or rider.
For individuals, participation will require a $75 registration fee with a $150 fundraising minimum, all of which is tax deductible. The fundraising minimum can be paid in full by the racer or raised from friends and family through the NSCD’s RethinkAbility Ski Challenge fundraising platform.
And participation comes with a few serious perks.
That’s because registering for the challenge includes a guaranteed ski day reservation at Winter Park Resort and a racer bib so participants can skip the lift lines on their day.
Also, they will receive a ski pass for the day, unless they already have an Ikon or Winter Park Resort season pass, along with food and drink vouchers and a racer swag bag.
About a dozen corporate teams have already signed up and registration will be allowed throughout the month.
Each corporate team will enjoy the same perks that individual skiers and riders do, but the corporate teams will also have a competitive athlete who competes in the World Disabled Invitational on Feb. 26 at Winter Park Resort.
Final team scores will be tallied from teams’ total vertical feet, bonus points and the score of their elite athletes in the World Disabled Invitational. Team members can ski together or individually, whichever fits their schedule.
The NSCD offers a diverse lineup of summer and winter programming. The center is currently running its alpine and Nordic ski programs and encourages anyone who’s interested in getting involved or seeking services to check out the NSCD.
For more about the challenge or the NSCD’s programs, go to http://www.nscd.org. On the nonprofit’s homepage, people will find links to NSCD lessons and to sign up for February’s RethinkAbility Ski Challenge.


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