Free Skiing and Snowboarding for Firefighters and First Responders All Season Long
Today Sunlight Mountain Resort announced it will offer free skiing and riding to all active firefighters and first responders as part of its new Firefighter Fun Day campaign. To be held each Wednesday of Sunlight’s 2018/19 season, Sunlight officials say Firefighter Fun Days are its way of recognizing the efforts of its local firefighters and first responders, as well as the hundreds of firefighters who came from out-of-state to battle wildfires throughout Colorado.
“This is a small way to recognize the tremendous effort, sacrifice, professionalism, and dedication of our local firefighters and emergency responders, including all of those from out of state who came here to help us protect our lands and valleys,” says Tom Hays, Sunlight General Manager.
Since late June hundreds of firefighters have been battling blazes on Colorado’s Western Slope including neighboring communities of El Jebel and Basalt as well as Sunlight’s hometown of Glenwood Springs and New Castle, Rifle, Battlement Mesa among others. Hundreds of thousands of acres have gone up in flames and the cost of protecting the local communities is approaching more than $100 million according to news reports.
Currently the Friends of Glenwood Springs Fire Protection, an adhoc committee, is working on a ballot initiative for the fall election that will ask voters to extend existing taxes and maintain funding for emergency fire and medical services.
Troy Hawks, marketing and sales director at Sunlight, says the ski area supports ensuring proper funding of local emergency fire and medical services. Encompassing 17 Wednesdays in all, active firefighters and first responders simply show their valid I.D. at the Sunlight Lift Ticket Office to get their free lift ticket for the day.
