December 23, 2008 – The fifth annual Wells Fargo “Ski Your Age in K’s”, presented by Banner Health, is scheduled for the day after Christmas, Friday, December 26. The purpose of the event is to get as many people as possible out the door for some post-Christmas exercise. The event, for which there is no entry fee, is a fund-raiser for FXC (Fairbanks Cross Country) the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks’ year-round junior race program.

Skiers will have from 9am until 4pm to try to ski as many kilometers as possible to achieve their “Ski Your Age” goals. There are bronze, silver, gold and platinum achievement levels, so even if you can’t ski your full age in kilometers, you can earn recognition for your achievement at another level.

In addition to recognizing individual achievements, the top performances will be recognized in several other categories: family of four or more skiing the most kilometers, family of three skiing the most kilometers, family with the most participants, couple, father-son, mother-daughter, father-daughter, mother-son, grandparent-grandchild and 50-50 club (skiers over the age of 50 who ski more than 50km).

There will also be a “Century” award for any person for whom the sum of his/her age and the number of kilometers they skied equalling 100, and a “Double Century” award for any couple for whom the sum of their ages and the number of kilometers they skied equalling 200.

For those looking for something more strenuous, there is the Sunup-to-Sundown Challenge, in which skiers have from sunrise (10:58am) until sunset (2:44pm,) to ski their age, or 50km, whichever is greater.

There is no entry fee or registration fee, but participants are encouraged to donate to FXC in recognition of their efforts in organizing the event.

Skiers will be asked to sign in, noting their age and their goal in kilometers. A chart showing the bronze, silver, gold and platinum achievement levels for each age will be available, as will maps showing loops varying in length from 1km to 10km or more which can be used as a guide.

Participants are encouraged to bring leftovers from their Christmas dinners, so that the skiers who ski large numbers of kilometers will have some healthy food to keep fueled up during the day and after they have finished.

The event also marks the kickoff of “Friends of FXC”. This effort will give people the opportunity to support the FXC program by making donations and receiving recognition for their gift in the form of FXC materials or clothing.

Two-hour group lessons with FXC Head Coach Pete Leonard will be available from 10am-noon and from 1pm-3pm for $25/person, with a limit of 10 skiers per session. All proceeds will go to support the FXC program.