By Doug La Rocque
Jen Peabody contributed to this story
Four members of the Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department again took part in the 4th Annual STRIDE Adaptive Sports 100k Vertical Challenge. The event is a 12 hour, 87 run skiing and snowboarding marathon that took place on Monday, February 25 at the Jiminy Peak Ski Resort in Hancock, MA, just across the border from Stephentown. One of the SVFD participants, Safety Officer Chuck Riccardi, said “ I have a personal connection to this event, having seen the difference STRIDE made in the life of a friend who is living with a traumatic brain injury.
Based in West Sand Lake, STRIDE Adaptive Sports is a non-profit organization that provides over 8000 adaptive sport and recreation lessons each year to individuals with disabilities, focusing on youth and wounded warriors.
The SVFD team raised $1,959 for STRIDE, almost twice their fundraising goal. The team fought wind gusts of 60 miles per hour or more, and after having completed their first run down a 1000 foot vertical slope, had to deal with a power outage. Being firefighters who are used to facing some adversity, they continued to ski, often walking back up to the top, pulling one of the adaptive skiers with them, until power returned.