CHARLEMONT — Young skiers took to the slopes for a “ski-athon” at Berkshire East Mountain Resort Monday morning to raise money for STRIDE Adaptive Sports.
The fundraiser was organized by 12-year-old William Lemerond, of Westchester County, N.Y., who is a member of the Berkshire East Ski Team and race program. William had been planning the ski-athon since August.
“I used to ski at Jiminy Peak (in Hancock) and saw STRIDE there,” he recalled. “It seemed really cool.”
According to its website, STRIDE Adaptive Sports is a nonprofit that empowers individuals with special needs through sport and recreation programs, helping them to sustain healthy, active lifestyles. It offers programs in 17 different sports across the Northeast to individuals with disabilities, focusing on youth and Wounded Warriors.
William said he had years of experience on the slopes from well before he joined the Berkshire East Ski Team two years ago. His father is an avid skier and has been a ski coach, ingraining the sport in William at an early age.
“He started off skiing in Central Park,” said his mother, Nicole Lemerond.
“I was like 2 or 3,” William recalled.
Now, William and his teammates come to Berkshire East for training every weekend, unless there is a competition. His mother said the team competes in as many as six races each year.
On Monday, Nicole Lemerond was at the bottom of the course tracking the number of runs each skier took. She said the event drew more than 50 participants between ski team members, coaches, parents, siblings and friends. Her two other children, Charles, 10, and Charlotte, 8, also raced.
According to Lemerond, those who donated chose between making a flat rate donation or paying $1 to $10 per “run” on the course between 9 a.m. and noon. The money will support a STRIDE program at Catamount Mountain Resort in Hillsdale, N.Y.
“We raised $3,000 so far through flat rate donations,” she said.
Berkshire East Ski Team Head Coach Ben Sullivan said the parallel slalom course, which followed the path of the high school ski team’s course, allows for friendly competition as the young skiers race each other instead of the clock.
Cody Vassar has been on the Berkshire East Ski Team for five years and said he enjoyed running the course during the ski-athon, as it was different than his team’s usual practice. Julia Vee, who is not a member of the skiing team, said she also enjoyed the course and had fun racing other skiers.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.