The sixth annual Wells Fargo “Ski Your Age in K’s” is scheduled for the day after Christmas, Saturday, December 26. The purpose of the event is to get as many people as possible of all ages out the door for some post-Christmas exercise. The event, for which there is no entry fee, is a fund-raiser for FXC (Fairbanks Cross Country) the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks’ year-round junior race program.
Skiers will have from 10AM until 4PM to try to ski as many kilometers as possible to achieve their “Ski Your Age” goals. There are bronze, silver, gold and platinum achievement levels, so even if you can’t ski your full age in kilometers, you can earn recognition for your achievement at another level.
There is no entry fee or registration fee, but participants are urged to bring leftovers from their Christmas dinners, so that they and the skiers who ski large numbers of kilometers will have some healthy food to keep fueled up during the day and after they have finished. Participants are encouraged to donate to FXC in recognition of their efforts in organizing the event.
Skiers will be asked to sign in, noting their age and their goal in kilometers. A chart showing the bronze, silver, gold and platinum achievement levels for each age will be available, as will maps showing loops varying in length from 1Km to 10Km or more which can be used as a guide.
The event also marks the the annual kickoff of the “Friends of FXC” campaign. This effort will give people the opportunity to support the FXC program by making donations and receiving recognition for their gift in the form of FXC materials or clothing. Again this year the Friends of FXC campaign has an anonymous matching donor who will match all donations we receive in association with the Ski Your Age in K’s event up to $5000!
Two-hour group lessons with FXC Head Coach Pete Leonard will be available from 10AM-noon and from 1PM-3PM for $25/person, with a limit of 10 skiers per session. All proceeds will go to support the FXC program.
In addition to recognizing individual achievements, the top performances will be recognized in several other categories: family (the family with the most participants and the family that skis the most kilometers), father-son, mother-daughter, father-daughter, mother-son, grandparent-grandchild and 50-50 club (skiers over the age of 50 who ski more than 50Km).
In addition, for those looking for something more strenuous, there will be a sunup-to-sundown challenge, in which skiers have from sunrise (10:58AM) until sunset (2:45PM) to ski their age, or 50Km, whichever is greater.
