NEWS

Monsterski 2008 is complete and was a great success for all of us.  We had some absolutely amazing conditions with some of the best powder seen in the Rockies for years; we also had the coldest day of their season (-21C, or -35C with the windchill) on our last day.

We skied in some beautiful sunshine for the most part of the week but had a couple of days skiing in falling snow too.  Many of the resorts didn't piste during the day and the overnight snow gave us some nice powder to ski on at the start of the following day before it became chopped up. The resorts themselves were extremely obliging and, by wearing MS Trust bibs, we generated a lot of publicity and curiosity, meeting many Americans with an MS connection.  I didn't realise it myself, but Colorado has America's highest incidence of MS; it also has one of the best MS centres in the US so perhaps it actually has just the highest incidence of diagnosis.

All of our team (and an absolutely great bunch of people they were too) managed to complete the 150,000 vertical feet challenge, with those being injured and unable to complete it themselves having it skied by proxy (by those who had already completed the challenge).  The injuries were all fairly standard, if very unwelcome, ski injuries.  Some of our team skied an absolutely amazing amount; the largest total was over 325,000 vertical feet.  This is such a large amount that it is very unlikely ever to be surpassed on a future Monsterski; if it is, I'll buy that person a crate of champagne.  Personally, I skied a little over 200,000 - some of it hard work, some of it just the best skiing I've ever done.

Towards the end of the week, our thoughts turned to a future Monsterski challenge.  With the whole purpose of Monsterski being to raise funds for the MS Trust, accessibility of the challenge to as many skiers as possible has to be the key.  A shorter (in time and overall distance covered), but equally demanding, European Monsterski is what we intend looking at for 2009. We hope to do this on a Friday, Saturday and a Sunday with around a 100,000 feet challenge - more daily totals required than on Monsterski 2008.  Plans are as yet an an early stage but as soon as they firm up they'll be posted on here. 

All those who took part in Monsterski 2008 had such a good time and thoroughly engaged in the pioneering spirit of bagging vertical feet - so much so that I think we created some little ski monsters.  It is a different kind of skiing to a regualr ski holiday and requires both stamina and a belief in yourself (as much as to ski through poor weather as to ski the 150,000 feet).  However, on Monsterski 2008, we had every range of ages from people in their 20s through to people in their 70s, and, if a lady in her 70s can do Monsterski, then so can you.

Finally, I like to thank all those who have taken part in Monsterski 2008. This includes: Jill, Alex, Elspeth, Valerie, Stacy, and Libi; Richard, Bradley, Adrian and Ian; David, John and David; Stuart, Tigger, Jon and Tony; and, Nick and Laura.  This group have managed to raise over £100,000 in sponsorship for MS -  a truly staggering amount and one which will be so wisely spent by the Trust.  Thank you all - through your efforts and commitment, you have all made a real difference for those with MS.

Team photo below!

Mike Laver - February 2008