Firefighters from Queenstown, Wanaka and Auckland Airport raised money for Wakatipu’s Bruce Grant Youth Trust in the annual Chill Factor Challenge

Anyone who caught a glimpse of a group of firefighters racing each other down Coronet Peak in their firefighting gear last month might have thought they were just having a bit of fun … and that they were maybe a little crazy. But it was all for a good cause.

2013-09-05 — /travelprnews.com/ — The firefighters were from Queenstown, Wanaka and Auckland Airport and they were raising money for Wakatipu’s Bruce Grant Youth Trust in the annual Chill Factor Challenge.

The challenge: how many times can a team of skiing or snowboarding firefighters get down the slope in two hours?

It’s the third year the event has been held and together the teams raised $10,200 for the trust by collecting in their respective terminals. All of the money raised goes towards the trust’s October grants.

The trust supports young people from the Wakatipu basin who want to better themselves through sports, arts and cultural fields and has given out close to $400,000 in grants over the past 18 years.

The money raised at the Chill Factor Challenge now makes up around half of what the trust gives out each year.

While the Auckland Airport snowboarding team fought hard, they were once again beaten by their southern skiing cousins. Although, in his defence, organiser Tony Scott did point out that skiers don’t have to strap themselves each time they get back to the top … just sayin’!

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