Snowbird Overnight Ski Fundraiser Generate $25K, Skier Log 6.9 Million Vertical Feet

Snowbird, Utah – Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort held the first-ever 12 Hours of Snowbird overnight full moon skiing event over the weekend with 77 participants logging a total of 6.9 million vertical feet and raising more than $25,000 for the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center.

Skiers and riders competed from Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. until Feb. 19 at 7 a.m. on designated runs in Gad Valley and Peruvian Gulch with Flaik GPS tracking devices tallying total vertical feet skied, skier location, current speed, average speed, runs skied and more. Matt Mullin took the top spot in the individual vertical category with 125,643 vertical feet, while Kuhl Guys Andy Hunter and Willy Mueller captured the team title with 251,315 total vertical feet. In total, skiers and riders traveled more than 6,000 miles during the 12 Hours of Snowbird.

“I’ve always wanted to see how much vertical I could put in if I went non-stop, so this event was the perfect way to find out just how hard we could go,” said Hunter, one of two winners in the team category. “Skiing in the dark and only using my headlamp about 30 percent of the time thanks to the full moon was an awesome experience.”

“We’re deeply grateful to Snowbird for pulling off an amazing event,” said Paul Diegel, Executive Director of the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. “It was great to see the outpouring of support from the ski community for the Center and raise funds that help us continue to educate the public and keep them safe.”

The 12 Hours of Snowbird was sponsored by Flaik, Black Diamond, The North Face, Petzl, Utah Food Services, Uinta and Pepsi. For complete results visitwww.snowbird.com/events/12hoursofsnowbird.html.

Since 1980, the Utah Avalanche Center has been providing the public with avalanche and mountain weather forecasts and training to backcountry users of all kinds in an effort to help them understand avalanche conditions, avoid avalanches and perform avalanche rescues. 

Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort has received 392” of snow as of Feb. 21, including 37” from this past weekend’s storm (video footage: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIfONBNBOho). For more information or to see photos of the current conditions, visit www.snowbird.com or contact Jared Ishkanian at (801) 933-2047 / jishkanian@snowbird.com. You can also follow Snowbird at www.facebook.com/snowbirdUT or www.twitter.com/snowbirdski.

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Jared Ishkanian
Public Relations Director
Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort
o. 801.933.2047 c. 801.891.3496
jishkanian@snowbird.com
www.twitter.com/snowbirdski
www.facebook.com/snowbirdUT