READY, STEADY, SNOW!
On Saturday 19th March 2022, over 80 people took part in the annual Coeur Blanc Challenge resulting in a staggering £315,000 being raised, funding 10 schools!
This year’s Coeur Blanc Challenge was ably led by Pierre Taylor, a dear friend of Oli’s grandparents. The event tests skiing abilities of participants and raise substantial funds for charities. Founded in 2008, the challenge takes place in the Les Trois Vallées in the Alps and more specifically, Meribel which is home to 52 ski lifts. To complete the challenge the teams must complete a full journey on all 52 lifts within the valley during the course of a single day. This works out at one lift every nine minutes! Teams can choose their own routes, but whichever route is selected requires skiing the descent and ascent of over 15,000 metres - or two Mount Everests!
We began the challenge with a ceremony on Friday evening where all teams and supporters met at Arpasson Restaurant which is located picturesquely on top of one of the mountains in Meribel. Here Stefan gave a short talk about the cause and reminded everyone about the WHY behind the event. The atmosphere in the room was one of togetherness and emotion. With tears in our eyes a final ‘cheers’ was given before preparing for the torchlight descent down the mountain.
If you have never seen or been a part of a torchlight ski, we can highly recommend it - it was beautiful. Imagine, 80 people skiing down the mountain in unison, with the only light being from the fire on the torches and the moonlight. There couldn’t have been a better way to start the challenge.
On Saturday 19th, the day of the challenge, at 8:30am the first lift opened especially for the event and the challenge began! The teams embarked on their 52 ski lift journey which had to be completed by 5:30pm on the same day. We were very lucky and were blessed with fantastic conditions and glorious sun. Oli was definitely with us.
Alex and Max were taking part in the challenge as ‘Oli’s Olympians’, they were competing as the first team to ever do it on snowboards! Max rode the challenge on Oli’s snowboard. Not even stopping for lunch, all teams powered through and completed the challenge - some even in record times! Oli’s Olympians were the fourth team over the finish line and were delighted with their achievement.
We are deeply grateful for everyone’s support and how the team came together for this year’s Coeur Blanc Challenge. Funding another 10 schools is a monumental achievement. The 10 Coeur Blanc Schools will all be built by mid 2023. We cannot wait to show you the progress of the schools in build..
#WORLDBETTERBECAUSE
