The 2019 Ridge-A-Thon Fundraising including donations and cash sponsorships totals $49,092.44. We had amazing weather and conditions, and were able to get the opportunity to hike the peak to wrap the event, bringing home 3 runs added to your two day total. Below you can find a run-down of the fundraising totals, and run totals top performers, and a full list of stats.

Participant Fundraiser Totals

Updated 3/28/19

Hike/Run Totals

Men

Women

U-18 Men

U-18 Women

Full Run Totals

The summit is a special place many of us go to connect – with our own earthly experience, with the surprising and heart-pounding edges of our own physical and mental power, and with the memory of loved ones who have had to leave us for another adventure. The summit is decorated, a wind-whipped memorial of prayer flags, mementos, and offerings – they mark a place, a physical location high up in the clouds overlooking valleys below, and also a resonant cosmic space; catching prayers, and dreams, accepting all confessions and all burdens, judging nothing.

The 23rd Annual Ben Myers Ridge-A-Thon is dedicated to the memory of Matthew Zonghetti, 26, and Corey Borg-Massanari, 22, who lost their lives following an avalanche on Kachina Peak on January 17, 2019. This Peak, her chutes and departures, offer a beautiful, if extreme and unforgiving, paradise on snow. Most who love to ski it would agree that skiing and boarding at this level on this terrain is an act of living life to its fullest. And cause for joy.

We will remember the lives of these two young men in our community’s annual celebration of care of one another and love of the mountain, named for Ben Myers who exemplified both, and departed too soon.

Join us in honoring Corey and Matthew, along with Ben Myers, on March 15 and 16 at Taos Ski Valley, or donate to the event in their names.

2018 Fundraising Totals

2018 Ridge Runs

(All runs took place on a section of Highline Ridge in a year with the lowest total snowpack on record. The 2018 Ridge-A-Thon was essentially a miracle. West Basin and Kachina Peak were closed.)

So, it’s true that everyone needs to raise a minimum donation of $200 to hit the slopes for Ridge-A-Thon, and because we use peer-to-peer fundraising, you can start now by asking your family and social network to support this community cause. We make it easy to make a difference, just by spreading the word about the Emergency Medicines Fund and showing up to have some fun during Ridge-A-Thon!

Everyone wins something great from our prize table just for participating, and you get to take your pick based on the funds you raise in this event. Those who shred the most receive custom-designed medals for their valor on the Ridge. Everyone who participates in the event is entered automatically in two great drawings. The Big Kahuna Raffle includes industry gear – like Völkl Skis, Lange Boots, a Never Summer snowboard, Tecnica/Blizzard boots, K2 skis, or a Taos Ski Valley Season Value Pass. Participants also automatically receive one entry in the Booktaos.com Summer Vacation Raffle valued at $2,000.

You don’t even have to ski to win – if you enter the My Kinda Ridge category you can raise funds in support of your effort creating and completing your own challenge. We want to be inclusive of all people in this event, and recognize that not everyone wants to hike, shred, and repeat. If you think you can try every hot chocolate in the valley, or ski every blue run on the mountain, we invite you rise to the challenge.

If you want to participate and help us make a positive impact on health in the Taos area by supporting families and individuals in our area, you can register here and come out and play on March 16 and 17, 2018. if you want to make a donation in support of one of our participants do it here.

With just one month to go before we hit the slopes, it’s time to ramp up our event registration. Please consider joining us this year for the 21st Annual Ben Myers Ridge-A-Thon at Taos Ski Valley. Now is the time to register and begin your online fund raising – the better your fund raising outcomes, the more likely you are to get top picks from our prize table! We have amazing prizes rolling in all month long from local and national businesses, and we’ll tell you more about them as they arrive.

Our Big Kahuna prize drawing, with automatic entry to all participants, will again include K2 skis and bindings, Never Summer snowboard, Volkl Skis, Tecnica Blizzard Boots, Lange Boots, and MORE!

If you can’t participate but want to support the event, you can buy a raffle ticket for the annual BookTaos.com vacation package, valued at over $2000.

Regarding the last Ridge-A-Thon: The family believes that Ben would have been very pleased to have seen some of the changes. While I understand that some of the Ridge diehards may have been sorry to see the event opened up to beginners, or nonskiers, understand this: Ben was very inclusive. The first thing Ben’s wife said, when she heard about the changes, was that Ben was very inclusive.

While skiing in Santa Fe, he would sometimes spend the day skiing with a fellow who had special needs. Ben and I referred to him as a boy, but later found out that he was around 30. People with Downs Syndrome sometimes appear younger than they are. The “boy,” as Ben and I referred to him, just loved skiing with Ben…and Ben loved skiing with him. The boy couldn’t keep up with Ben, but he wasn’t a bad skier. Few were as good as Ben. But the times they skied together weren’t about being the best, they were about a boy, with some special challenges, spending time with a skier that he really looked up to. It meant a lot to Ben that it meant a lot to the boy.