2010, by Editors

Kirk Williams, a writer for Skiing the Backcountry, is one of those people. You know, the type of person who is contagiously enthusiastic about a good adventure? He's full of joy, always smiling & always willing to help out.
You might remember him as The Boundary Hunter from articles like "Commando or Command-no", "More than Just a Mining Town", "How to Catch a Ride Up the Mountain", coverage of the 2009 Colorado Freeride Championships and several thoughtful reviews of ski gear.

Well, last November, Kirk was in a mountain biking accident and ended up with a serious spinal injury (severely fractured C5). He's currently an incomplete quadriplegic, but luckily there is hope that he will someday walk again! He is also working on regaining the use of his hands and forearms so that he can continue to pursue a career in photography.

Needless to say, his medical expenses are going to be staggeringly high. On average, someone Kirk's age with a spinal cord injury will spend $1.5-2 MILLION of their own money on medical expenses that are not covered by insurance. So... we feel like it's the least we can do to organize a raffle in his honor.

Raffle Prizes
Do you like gear? Yeah, I thought so. Well here is your chance to win some amazing prizes from Suunto, Patagonia, Osprey, Black Diamond, La Sportiva, Dakine, Pistil Designs & more! Here is a list of some of the prizes so far:

Patagonia Men's Slingshot Down Vest
Suunto Core Light Green Watch
Osprey Vector 25 Luggage
A whole box of Pistil Hats
Black Diamond Ski Gear
La Sportiva Shoes
Dakine kiki wallet in neptune stripe
Cloudveil Women's Run Don't Walk Boxers
Nikwax

We will post a final list and description of raffle prizes next week. We are so thankful for the support of these top-of-the-line ski gear companies and are hoping that their donations to this raffle will raise BIG money to offset some of Kirk's immediate expenses.

How to Enter the Raffle
It's possible to enter the raffle both online and at the upcoming ski tradeshows (OR & SIA).

To enter the raffle online, there are 3 easy steps:

1. Donate money here. The online donation amount is a $10 minimum, or you can send in a check if that's really too much for you. (Note: You will have to search for Kirk Williams to get to the correct page...)
2. Sign up for an account on skiingthebackcountry.com (if you don't already have one).
3. Post this comment in your user bio:

"I donated Cash for Kirk. You can too! Here's the link: http://www.ntafund.org/find-a-patient/"

For more chances to win, we are offering 1 extra raffle entry for every 10 community points that you accumulate. Here are some ways to earn points:

*Track Your Vert! Feel free to back-date your ski days and guess on the exact amount of vert. It's also more fun if you upload photos and videos to go along with your journal.

*Submit new Mountain Ranges, Mountains and/or routes to the user-generated ski guide!

*Submit an external link to a section of the ski guide! (When signed in, scroll to near the bottom of the page to find these sections)

*Upload a photo!

*Comment on articles, gear reviews, guide descriptions, ski journals, etc

*Upload an event to the calendar!

*Chat on Jibba Jabba!

*Submit a link on "Things You Gotta See"

To enter the raffle at the Outdoor Retailer and Sports Industry Association tradeshows, just look for anyone wearing a Skiing the Backcountry T-shirt!

The deadline to enter the raffle is February 15, 2010, but of course there is no deadline for sending cash to Kirk! Winners will be announced on March 1st, 2010.

Thanks for helping to support Kirk and good luck winning ski gear!

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