Ski 70k feet to fight childhood cancer

Hi there! My name is Kayla Anderson and I am a junior at Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Recently, in my Honors Pre-Calculus class, I was tasked to create a project with the topic, “How do we use math in real life?”

Immediately, I thought of skiing. When I am skiing, I constantly calculate my speed and the vertical feet I ski throughout the day. Inspired by an article I recently read online, (https://www.vaildaily.com/news/70k-in-one-day-how-this-snowboarder-hit-70000-vertical-feet-at-beaver-creek/), I thought it would be a great idea to calculate the time and strategy it would take to ski 70k vertical feet in one day.  For reference, most consider skiing 30k an aggressive day of skiing.

I have been ecstatic for this math project for weeks now, however, after hearing billionaire Jared Isaacman’s interview with the Space Force Association on March 3, 2021, my perspective for this project changed. He mentioned that when you have an opportunity to do something special in this world, you have a responsibility to make it greater than yourself.  

Here is a 1 min video where Jared explains the upcoming Inspiration4 mission: 
https://players.brightcove.net/1937897687001/4JB5Pmxpl_default/index.html?videoId=6227458820001 

Three out of four of my grandparents are cancer survivors. It is scary as a granddaughter to watch your close family members struggle and fight for their lives. Even worse, many children throughout the world suffer and lose their priceless childhood, and sadly their precious lives fighting cancer. I also recently found out that the husband of a long time mentor of mine was just diagnosed with brain cancer.

I absolutely want to earn an “A” on my math project.  I also want to be among the first females to ski a documented 70k vertical feet.  But more importantly, 
I also want to make a difference.   As a result, I would greatly appreciate your donations to help fight children’s cancer and support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. 

My good friend, Carter Gonzalez, will be joining me as my safety observer on this endeavor on Wednesday, March 10th at Beaver Creek Ski Resort.

Thank you for your time!