Dan Frith’s Pacific Coast Fundraising Challenge for Snow Camp

Here at Snow Camp, we’re always amazed by some of the fundraising challenges that people undertake to raise money for our organisation. We’re truly humbled! Which is why we jumped at the opportunity to work with Dan Frith from SkiBoutique when he said he was undertaking the 2,800km Pacific Coast challenge on his bike… In two weeks!

To put that into context, SkiBoutique’s Dan Frith is cycling over 200km per day, from Vancouver in Canada to Tijuana in Mexico. He is also carrying the absolute bare minimum with him in a tiny bikepack for the duration of the trip. No rest for the wicked, as they say!  

The Pacific Coast has been sitting on many peoples’ bucket list, but for Dan, it was just another amazing challenge to tick off: 

“I’ve done trips like this before. From Switzerland to Istanbul, and Barcelona to Zermatt, and then back to the UK. I’m kind of used to cycling on European roads.”

But we wanted to know if there was anything special about this famous route that spans several US states and major cities, not to mention 3 countries at once!  

“I think the whole Pacific Coast is pretty epic. I’m excited to see San Francisco and LA, a the big cedar wood trees in northern California, and the Napa wine region. It’s pretty famous, the Pacific Highway, but I won’t be satisfied with seeing just the highway anyway, I think seeing the Pacific Coast in California is going to be pretty special.”

For lots of people, the message behind the work that Snow Camp does really resonates. Many people in the UK found a love for skiing and snowboarding through government and charity funded initiatives that brings snow sport to young people who would not usually have that opportunity.  

“I’m from Sheffield, in the North of England, and when I was twelve years old we were given the opportunity to ski at Sheffied dry ski slope, which was funded by the government, otherwise we would never have gone. And it was something that I absolutely loved, and I fell in love with skiing and absolutely loved it. But I never had the opportunity to ski on snow. I just skied on the dry slope and got lots of carpet burns in the process!

 

Age twenty-three I managed to ski on snow, and after university I went and did a ski season. And it’s why I’m doing what I’m doing today, and it’s how I ended up setting up SkiBoutique and living the life that I’m living now.

 

So it completely resonates. And Snow Camp gives that opportunity to kids from less developed areas of the UK. It just made complete sense.”

We are throwing our full support behind Dan on this incredible challenge, and wish him all the best in hitting his fundraising target of £2,000, which would be enough to finance a complete journey for a young person on a Snow Camp course, from First Tracks through to their first work placement. Dan aims to reach Tijuana in Mexico on 21st September 2022. Naturally, we can only imagine the satisfaction of reaching the border… 

“I think I’ll probably knock a hole in Donald Trump’s Mexican wall, drink tequila, and call my girlfriend!”

 

You’ve earned it, Dan.  

Find out more about how you can support his challenge and donate via the JustGiving page.