Kahtoola, the creator of MICROspikes, EXOspikes and NANOspikes brand traction, announced its 14th annual GORE-TEX Kahtoola Uphill event raised more than $44,500 for Arizona-based nonprofit Friends of Camp Colton.
The virtual event took place between February 20-28. More than 160 racers from 18 states and two countries (Germany and Japan) entered the event that had been limited to those within reach of Kahtoola’s mountainous, snow-covered home base of Flagstaff, Ariz., where the race traditionally takes place.
With the help of these generous everyday adventurers, all proceeds from the Uphill benefit Friends of Camp Colton’s youth environmental education programs. Participants rallied friends and family to support their efforts with donations and sold 100 percent of the coveted Golden Raffle tickets.
“Hosting the Uphill event virtually for the first time turned out to be an inspiring experience that allowed our community of old and new friends to join from anywhere they call home,” said Danny Giovale, founder and owner at Kahtoola. “We are so thankful to everyone that joined us to support Friends of Camp Colton and our next generation of environmental stewards.”
Most entrants completed the Bob Gore Discovery Climb, which saw them record as much elevation gain as possible over nine days. A brave few accepted the call to conquer the Lumberyard Brewing Company Ultimate Challenge to climb and descend 2,100 vertical feet as fast as humanly possible. In total, participants recorded 721,525 feet in elevation gain over the course of the event.
Over the last 14 years, Kahtoola’s Uphill has raised more than $450,000 to help kids experience life-changing time in nature at Camp Colton.
Kahtoola thanks GORE-TEX, Lumberyard Brewing Co. and all Uphill event sponsors and supporters. A full Uphill recap can be found in Kahtoola’s post-event video. For information on Friends of Camp Colton, contact Ari Wilder at ari@friendsofcampcolton.org or call 928-527-6142.
