26.2.2021

A third of every Virtual ČEZ SkiTour race fee will go towards equipping visually impaired participants for winter

They go cross-country skiing every year regardless of the weather, snow conditions and their handicap. In short, they want to experience the atmosphere of skiing events and do the sports that their condition enables them to do. They need adequate sporting equipment which the sports retail chain Hervis will contribute towards. The value of the donation is determined by the number of skiers registered for the virtual series of the ČEZ SkiTour series as well as by the participants’ performance.

Visually impaired and blind cross-country skiers from the Leontinka Foundation go to the mountains even outside of race weekends, to enjoy outdoor activities. Their gear is not always in the latest fashion. Sometimes a stone in the skiing track gets in the way of their skis, their jacket sometimes doesn’t endure falling in the snow repeatedly, but this doesn’t stop them from going to the mountains. They are greeted with admiration by many other cross-country skiers along the way, whether in the Jizerské Mountains, in Paprsek, in the Krušné Mountains or in the Šumava. Wearing their traditional yellow vests, they are unmissable. 

“We join in the admiration. However, we don’t want to do only that, we’ve decided that together with SkiTour organisers we’ll support them and as Hervis we’ll donate 50 CZK in sporting equipment for each registered participant in the virtual races plus 1 crown for each kilometre covered as part of the races”, says Jan Štádler, representative of Hervis, the main partner of the series.

The racers will now determine how big the support will be. Handicapped sportspeople will learn the amount of funding on 21^st March when registrations for the virtual race series end. “Until then we’ll eagerly monitor how many people we’ve motivated to go and pay 150 CZK for the registration and donate at least a third of that plus their performance,” says the executive director of Leontinka, Barbora Hucková, who is thankful for the series’ new approach. “It’s another opportunity to show people with vision impairment that others care about them. The energy and public participation is much more than the money itself.”

Every sports enthusiast can help. All you need to do is register for one (or all) Virtual SkiTour races at www.ski-tour.cz. The race fee is 150CZK; for this money you get a chance to do something for yourself, but also for the visually impaired, and you get a range of gifts. You need to cover a certain distance using any sports activity and upload it in the registration account. Each enthusiastic sportsperson’s performance will be converted by Hervis to financial means to equip the visually impaired.