SALT LAKE CITY, UT – On April 9th, Vail Resorts officially announced the winners of the 2015 Epic Ski Challenge, resulting in a total of $400,000 donated by Vail Resorts to deserving charities in both Utah and Colorado. After three months of skiing at nine of Vail Resorts’ mountains in Colorado, Utah, and Lake Tahoe, 20 teams headed by business and civic leaders in Utah and Colorado competed until the very end both against each other and with each other for state bragging rights and a portion of funds from a $400,000 Vail Resorts charitable prize purse.
This year marks the fourth season of Vail Resorts’ Epic Ski Challenge, a program of the company’s EpicPromise. After this season, the Epic Ski Challenge will have donated over $1.1 million to deserving charities.
“With 20 teams competing in two states for deserving charities, we have been given an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of so many individuals,” said Rob Katz, chairman and CEO, of Vail Resorts. We could not be happier to be donating $400,000 to these worthy causes and thank everyone for their dedication. Thank you to all the team captains, charities, and participants for making this year’s Epic Ski Challenge truly epic.”
When the 2015 Epic Ski Challenge came to an end at 5 p.m. MST on Wed., April 8, 2015, in an extremely close competition Utah came in second to Colorado by only seven points – staking claim to a slightly lower portion of the total prize purse. The top three Utah teams are:
- First Place: Team Alliance Health, captained by Jeff Smith (President & CEO of Alliance Health), $50,000 donation to Birth Creek Service Ranch
- Second Place: Team Clyde Companies, captained by Jim Golding (President/CEO, Geneva Rock Products, Inc., A Clyde Company), $30,000 Vail Resorts donation to Maliheh Free Clinic
- Third Place: Team Ancestry.com captained by Scott Sorensen (Chief Technology Officer Ancestry.com), $20,000 Vail Resorts donation to Primary Children’s Hospital Foundation
In addition to the top three teams each of the other Utah and Colorado teams, all captained by local business and civic leaders and benefiting Utah and Colorado-serving charities, received $10,000 (Colorado teams) and $7,000 (Utah teams) donations from Vail Resorts for participating in the 2015 Epic Ski Challenge. The KeyBank of Utah team also received an additional $1,000 grant for winning the Epic Ski Challenge Closing Ceremony Drawing – bringing the grand total of Vail Resorts charitable donations from the Epic Ski Challenge program to over $400,000.
Charities that received donations as a result of this year’s Challenge were:
Utah: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah, Birch Creek Service Ranch, Boys Scouts of America – Great Salt Lake Council, Downtown SLC Presents, Kimball Arts Center, Maliheh Free Clinic, Primary Children’s Hospital Foundation, Summit County Children’s Justice Center, University of Utah Young Alumni Association Scholarship Fund, and Utah Open Lands.
Colorado: A Precious Child, Judi’s House, Teach for America, Amp the Cause, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, Craig Hospital, Denver Zoo, Greenhouse Scholars, National Sports Center for the Disabled, and Women Who Code.
This year’s Second Place Team Clyde Companies, with a total point score of 205, and winning $30,000 for the Maliheh Free Clinic provided the following statement:
“The Epic Ski Challenge fundraiser embodied the Clyde Companies vision of ‘Building a Better Community’ like no other,” Jim Golding, President, Geneva Rock Products a Clyde Company. This particular Vail Resorts sponsored event united two states, 20 companies and 20 charitable organizations to make better the communities in which we live. The Clyde Companies team is humbled to have had the opportunity to participate and win $30,000 that will provide medical care for hundreds of patients at the Maliheh Free Clinic.”
For more information about the Epic Ski Challenge and to learn more about the twenty participating teams and benefiting charities, visit www.EpicSkiChallenge.com.