Details About the 2008 Ski for Light International Week
The Dates
The 2008 Ski for Light International Week will be held from Sunday evening, February 10 through Sunday morning, February 17, 2008. First- and second-year guides will need to arrive one day early, by Saturday evening, February 9th, for guide orientation and training.
The Location
The 2008 Ski for Light event will take place in Bend, Oregon. Bend is located in Central Oregon, on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains, on a
sunny high desert plateau. Portland is about 175 miles over the mountains to the northwest and
Idaho is about 150 miles to the east. For perspective, Seattle is about 330 miles to the north, and San Francisco is about 495 miles to the south of Bend.
Bend was a sleepy little town just a few years ago. The moderate
climate of the area coupled with easy access to just about every kind
of summer and winter outdoor activity has caused the population to
double to about 75,000 in the past ten years.
The eight square blocks
of downtown Bend, just five minutes from the hotel, is the center of
the area's nightlife. It is filled with restaurants, lounges, brew-pubs,
little shops and boutiques.
For more information about Bend, visit the Visitor Information section of the Bend Chamber of Commerce website.
Getting to Bend
Unless you are driving to Bend, you will want to fly into and out of the Bend/Redmond Airport, whose airport code is RDM. The airport is only 15 miles from the event hotel, and is served by Delta, United and Horizon airlines. There are approximately 44 daily flights, from/to many major western cities.
The Event Hotel
The event hotel will be the Riverhouse Resort Hotel in Bend. It has
a well-deserved reputation for great food and outstanding amenities
and facilities. The nearly 200 guest rooms are spacious and well
appointed with every convenience from refrigerators to micro-wave
ovens to DVD players to high-speed wireless internet access. There is
a large indoor heated pool, both indoor and outdoor hot-tubs, a fitness
center, a lounge with live entertainment six nights a week, and a brand
new 30,000 square foot Convention Center where we will hold our
events.
A distinguishing feature of the hotel, from which it takes its name, is
that the various hotel buildings and the golf course that is part of the
complex are situated on the banks of the Deschutes River. Three of
the six hotel buildings are on one side of the river and three on the
other side. Access from one side to the other is made easy via a
covered and fenced walkway bridge. The gurgling sound of white water
can be heard from many of the rooms, making it easy to forget that you
are in civilization at all.
View an image of The Deschuites River and Covered Bridge at the Riverhouse Resort Hotel
Visit the Riverhouse website to view additional photos.
The Ski Area
We will ski at the Mt. Bachelor cross-country ski area. Mt. Bachelor is only 20 miles from Bend, but the
mountain has a climate system all of its own. At a base elevation of
6,400 feet it is only about 3,000 feet higher than Bend, but
temperatures on the mountain are generally about 30 degrees cooler
than the High Desert just below. Average annual snowfall is 370
inches, (it was 399" this past year) with a ski season that stretches from November through May,
and sometimes longer. The skiing conditions are often described as the
best in the West.
The ski area is a combination facility, containing both downhill and
cross-country runs and trails. The 3,700 acre complex includes 71
downhill runs and several terrain and tubing parks, while the
cross-country trail system has 12 trails with 56k of machine groomed
and double-tracked trails. The trails are wide, with two sets of tracks
and a skating lane off to the left. Much of the trail system is rolly with
gentle ups and downs, but there is also some pretty flat terrain for
beginners.
The Nordic Center is a small structure and not really big enough for
Ski for Light. Not to worry, because just a five minute walk across the
parking lot from the Nordic Center is the West Village Lodge, with
several restaurants, a bar, shops and lockers.
View an image of Nordic Skiers on the Mt. Bachelor Trails, with the Downhill Ski Complex in the Background
View an image of The Mt. Bachelor Trail System
View or download the Mt. Bachelor Trail Map - Adobe PDF Format (1.5 MB).
Visit the Mt. Bachelor website for additional information and photos.
Cost For The Week
The total cost of the week is $775 for double- or triple-occupancy or $1,150 for
single-occupancy. (Triples are the same price as doubles because the rooms used as triples are actually family suites with kitchen.) This amount includes
room, all meals, six days of skiing, round-trip transportation between
the Bend/Redmond (RDM) airport and hotel, and daily transportation between the
hotel and ski area. All meals are group meals. Cross-country skis,
boots, and poles will be provided free of charge to first-time blind/visually-impaired participants.
The cost of transportation from home to and from Bend is the
responsibility of the participant. Stipends of up to $350, based on financial need, are available for
guides and first-time participants.
Application Deadline
We are no longer accepting applications for the 2008 event. Please be sure to check back here this summer for details about the 2009 event.
Acceptance to the Week
Blind/visually-impaired and mobility-impaired applicants will be notified of their acceptance to SFL 2008
between mid-October and mid-November, with acceptance priority given to first-time applicants. The number of skiers to be accepted at any given point in time will depend on the number of guides who have applied.
No Physical Exam Is Required
No physical examination is required. Each applicant is expected to make
his/her own informed decision about the advisability of participation,
taking into account his/her individual overall health and the physical
demands and risks of cross-country skiing and of the Ski for Light program.
Application Forms
Please read the Frequently Asked Questions carefully, as they include much information that is specific to the 2008 event. Then proceed to complete and submit your Application form. We look forward to seeing you in Bend.
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