This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Seventy-seven skiers and boarders raised more than $25,000 for the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center in a night of skiing last weekend at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort.
"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," said Paul Diegel, executive director of the organization that supports the avalanche center's daily reports on snow conditions in the backcountry.
The participants rode nearly 7 million vertical feet in the inaugural "12 Hours of Snowbird," which ran from 7 p.m to 7 a.m. Individuals and teams paid $275 per person to take part in the endurance exercise, which involved runs off Gadzoom lift until midnight Friday then off of Peruvian Express lift until 7 a.m. Saturday.
Matt Mullin took the top spot in the individual vertical category, logging 125,643 vertical feet during the night. The team title went to Andy Hunter and Willy Mueller of Kuhl Guys, who combined to ski 251,315 vertical feet under a full-moon and additional lighting from headlamps the participants were required to wear.
Participants also were equipped with Flaik GPS tracking devices, which monitored their total vertical feet skied, location, current and average speeds, and the number of runs skied.