5,000+ expected to attend the longest running professional ski race in the country
The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) will host the 41st Annual Wells Fargo Ski Cup (WFSC) on Feb. 26 – 28 at Winter Park Resort. This event is the largest fundraiser for the NSCD, bringing in more than $250,000 to support therapeutic recreation summer and winter programs for children and adults with disabilities.
“This year we are excited to welcome some newcomers to our competition program who will be competing in the weekend events including 14 year old, Alison Kunkel from Chicago, Ill. She competes in both the Slalom and GS races and is a Paralympic hopeful for South Korea,” said Becky Zimmermann, president and CEO of the NSCD. “We are grateful to our sponsors who make this weekend possible including Wells Fargo, Sports Authority and Winter Park Resort.”
For more on the happenings at Winter Park, see the press release, below.
From the official press release:
Three races comprise the three-day weekend. The Corporate Challenge: Saturday skiers and snowboarders from 33 corporate teams race against each other to claim bragging rights and prizes. A NSCD Competition Center athlete races on each team for cash prizes to help finance his/her expenses to train for the 2018 Winter Paralympics. On Sunday the kids get in on the action. Kids of Wells Fargo Ski Cup guests, ages 5-12, race the same course as the professionals and are joined by mascots from Winter Park and Colorado sports teams in the Kids Snowplow Sprint. Capping off the weekend on Sunday is the World Disabled Invitational. Professional athletes from around the world compete for cash prizes in a race unlike any other. Other weekend events include a two-day silent auction, Wells Fargo hospitality tent, tubing to raise funds for the NSCD and the Ski for NSCD Pledge Drive.
It’s easy for the general public to join in on the activities by signing up for Ski for NSCD. The on-line fundraiser rewards the public with Winter Park Resort lift tickets and season passes for raising awareness and funds for a good cause. People who register can easily create their own website page to email family and friends who can donate in the person’s name. To learn more about how to participate in NSCD’s 41st Annual Wells Fargo Ski Cup, visit www.nscd.org.
“This year members of the Wells Fargo team from across the US will be traveling to Winter Park Resort to lend a hand in making this exciting weekend a great success,” said Frank Newman, Wells Fargo’s president for the Rocky Mountain Region. “We expect record attendance and hope to exceed fundraising efforts that will help the NSCD provide even more programs and activities for its participants.”
About NSCD
The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) began in 1970 as a one-time ski lesson for children with amputations for the Children’s Hospital of Denver. Today, the NSCD is one of the largest outdoor therapeutic recreation agencies in the world. Each year, thousands of children and adults with disabilities take to the ski slopes, mountain trails and playing fields to learn more about sports – and themselves. With specially trained staff and its own adaptive equipment lab, the NSCD teaches a variety of winter and summer sports and activities to individuals with almost any physical, cognitive, emotional, or behavioral diagnosis.
