Hitting the trails to help hospital buy much needed equipment (5 photos)

Sault Area Hospital Foundation (SAHF) is reporting “a great turn out” for the 12th Annual SAHF Ski the Trails fundraiser. 

Skiers, snowshoers and fat bikers hit the trails after raising pledges to participate.

This year’s event took place over one week instead of one day - from Feb. 27 to March 6 - and raised over $20,000.

After last year’s event was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, local anesthetists and avid skiers Dr. Phil Dopp and Dr. James Curran were back to lead the popular winter fundraiser.  

“We missed this event last year, and we’re happy to bring it back. It was great to see many new faces on the trails. Thanks to everyone who participated,” Curran said in a SAHF release.

This year, local businesses sponsored trails with a ‘selfie stop’ which proved to be a big hit with participants. 

Skiers Joanna MacDougal and Fiona Ortiz each won a Bread Hag gift certificate for submitting the best selfie.  

Darryl Patterson received a winter patio experience in Northern Superior Taproom’s heated igloo for logging the most kilometres.

“Spreading the event over one week actually got more people out and encouraged participants to ski multiple trails on multiple days. With a few adjustments, we were able to safely host our event and raise much needed funds for our hospital,” said Dr. Phil Dopp. 

“In the past 12 years, the event has raised over $170,000 for Sault Area Hospital Foundation, helping to purchase critical medical equipment for our local hospital,” said Teresa Martone, SAHF executive director.

“We are fortunate to have Dr. Curran and Dr. Dopp committed to this event. They encourage the ski, fat bike, and snowshoe communities to come out year after year and support us. Thank you also to our sponsors and everyone that pledged a participant.”  

The event was held in partnership with the Soo Finnish Nordic Ski Club and Hiawatha Highlands. 

Sault Area Hospital Foundation extends its thanks to the event’s sponsors, including Tenaris, PAC Group Ltd., Village Media, N1 Solutions, Algoma Bicycle Company, Comeault Private Wealth Advisory Group, Family Dentistry on Bay, Floreani O’Toole Orthodontists, Velorution, Lake Superior Physiotherapy, Northern Superior Brewing Company and the Bread Hag.