The biggest snowsports event in the solar system is Launched!

This winter season, Snow-Camp is seeking the support of thousands of passionate skiers and snowboarders to create history by being part of the biggest snowsports event ever launched – the Ski 2 The Moon challenge.

MINT Snowboarding is stoked to be partnered with this unique event with skiers and snowboarders all over the world able to join in – they just download the Ski 2 The Moon app, set a personal goal and hit the slopes. Whether riding in Morzine, Breckenridge or Tamworth, the Ski 2 The Moon App enables everyone with access to a smart phone to participate in the Challenge. Every mile skied is tracked by the app and contributes to a grand total of everyone’s efforts in pursuit of the target distance – The Moon – 238,855 miles away!

Snow-Camp Director, Dan Charlish said, ‘Over the years we have developed a number of snowsports events at Snow-Camp, such as the Alpine Challenge and the Snow-Camp Rally, which are great fun and have helped raise fantastic funds for our work. However, these events will always be limited to a set location, on certain dates and with specified targets – all of which restricts some people getting involved. We were inspired by the success of Movember – that wherever you are in the world you can grow a moustache, raise some funds and support a charity. We wanted to do something along the same lines but with snowsports – and the App now makes this possible.’

Snow-Camp was able to develop the Ski 2 The Moon idea after approaching Core Coders, the developers of the popular Ski Tracks app, now used by over 1.4 million skiers and snowboarders.

Charlish said, ‘I use Ski Tracks a lot, so we wrote to the developers, explained the idea and asked them if it was possible to deliver an app utlising their GPS tracking technology. They wrote back the same day, they loved the concept and their office happened to be 5 minutes down the road from Snow-Camp! They could have been anywhere in the world – we started thinking this was meant to be.’

Steve Wilson, developer of the Ski Tracks app said, ‘We are always looking to get involved with exciting and interesting opportunities, and Snow-Camp’s Ski 2 The Moon challenge seemed like the perfect fit. It’s great to be able to contribute our unique skill-set and market-leading technologies to benefit a worthwhile cause that’s in our line of work. This App has outstanding potential to massively increase awareness of Snow-Camp’s goals and hopefully generate lots of opportunities for the kids it supports. We are excited to be able to provide an easy and fun way for the snowsports community to get involved.’’

Seed funding for the new idea was generously provided by Gompels HealthCare Ltd, and after 6 months of development, is now available to download at App Store and Google Play. It will be FREE to download and available to everyone with a smart phone – Android or IOS. Importantly, it will also be FREE to use when on the slopes, as it does not require data roaming to operate.

The concept is simple: Wherever skiers and snowboarders choose to spend time on the slopes, they can download the app before they go and set a personal distance target and timeframe to achieve that goal. To start the challenge, skiers and snowboarders hit ‘go’ on the App to start tracking their miles and start helping towards the collective goal of the reaching the Moon.

‘What we like about the idea is it can engage everyone who skis or snowboards, whatever their level’ says Charlish. ‘If you are out in Alpe d’Huez with your mates – set a 200 mile target and achieve this over a week. If you are spending a day at Chatham Snow Centre – go for 5 miles in a day. If you are doing a season in Whistler – set a target of 3,000 miles skiing and a timeframe of the whole season. But the key is the event brings everyone together to achieve one shared goal – and we hope the snowsports community will get behind the idea. We currently have 34 fantastic partners signed up to support the App from across the snowsports industry and beyond, so we have already had a huge amount of support.’

Being powered by Ski Tracks, the Ski 2 the Moon app will provide participants with the very best Ski Tracks features in terms of measuring speed, total distance, vertical drop and GPS tracking which maps the route on Google maps.

It will also be fun! The team have developed a range of cartoon characters named after Olympians Jenny Jones (a snowboarding lady hare) and James Woods (a cool skiing tortoise) which pop up at various times during the challenge, encouraging skiers and snowboarders to keep going, congratulating them on reaching milestones towards their target and awarding various other achievements. There will be a range of awards and cups to collect as part of the App which keeps it really interactive, and of course everything is easily sharable across all social media, helping spread awareness to other snowsports enthusiasts. (#ski2themoon)

Snow-Camp Patron and Olympic Bronze medalist Jenny Jones said, ‘It’s such a great concept and is so accessible to everyone – I’m really looking forward to supporting the event, getting people using the App and helping us reach the Moon! And growing up I was always being called an energiser bunny so I’m delighted to have Jenny the Hare named after me!’

Alongside the Hare and the Tortoise, other graphics within the App enable participants to see their own personal contribution towards the moon target and also the live ongoing progress of the whole event as each combined mile skied around the world is recorded – shown on a ‘totaliser’ screen alongside an animated rocket making its way from Earth to the Moon 238,855 miles away.

The App is free, but as a charity event users will be encouraged to create a simple Just Giving page detailing their personal Ski 2 The Moon challenge, which they can easily share with friends and family. There will also be other ways to support the event and charity through text giving, with all funds raised supporting Snow-Camp’s work with inner city young people.

Charlish said ‘This event could make a massive difference and we are excited about its potential. If we can get thousands of people involved, Ski 2 The Moon could play a significant role in helping us achieve our vision of expanding Snow-Camp’s work to support many more young people in cities across the UK.’

The event begins on today, 20th December 2014, and will continue until the end of the season – or until we reach the Moon!

GET INVOLVED:

Donate: www.justgiving.com/snowcamp
Text: MOON20 £1 (or £2, £3, £5 or £10 depending on the amount you wish to donate) to 70070 to make an instant donation.
Download the App and start clocking miles!