Continental Divide Thru-Hike – A Journey For The Kids

Fri, Nov  7, 2014 - By Ken Dawson

Many of the skiers know me as the guy that does the Michigan Cup scoring and come up to me every year to thank me for my effort and ask if there is anything they can do to show their appreciation. My response is, I am trying to give something back to the sport I have a great passion for, and that is enough for me.

I also have another passion for wilderness travel and adventure. For almost 20 years our family has embraced some sort of prolonged wilderness experience. It has enriched our lives and like skiing it is time to give something back. In March of 2015 I will retire and in April of the same year will hike the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) to raise money for an organization called Big City Mountaineers. They work with under-resourced urban youths, inter-city kids raised by single parent that fall below the poverty level.

At the Michigan Cup Committee this fall I asked the committee members to have their ski team members support me in my fund raising efforts to assist Big City Mountaineers in fulfilling their mission statement “Instilling critical life skills in under-resourced urban youth through transformative wilderness mentoring expeditions”.

The video below was developed for me by a friend who was very compelled with this humanitarian adventure. He has won several film festival awards for his video production on the documentary of the Grande Ballroom. Please watch this and support my efforts

Michigan Cup Scorer and member of Team NordicSkiRacer
Ken Dawson