Marmot Ambassador Ace Kvale Champions dZi Foundation’s Nepal Relief in 60-day Desert Trek

Rohnert Park (CA) — Marmot is proud to announce that long-time photographer, athlete and goodwill ambassador, Ace Kvale, will begin a two-month desert and canyoneering trek throughout Southern Utah this week as part of a unique initiative to raise awareness and funding for the dZi Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to serving rural communities in eastern Nepal. Ace’s project is entitled: 60x60x60 – a crowd-funded adventure challenge to raise $60,000 over the course of his 60-day expedition, coinciding on the eve of his 60th birthday in early November. Ace will be accompanied by his nine-year-old Australian Cattle Dog, Genghis—a celebrity canine well-known for his very own adventure journal: Desert Dawg Blawg. Ace will also be joined in sections of the trek by long-time friends from his early ski life and past mountaineering expeditions, including legendary photographer Mark Shapiro. 

Ace is part of the Marmot Ambassador Team, a diverse group of social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, advocates and global stewards that represent goodwill initiatives worldwide. He’s also been a dZi Foundation advisory board member since 2002, after he returned from one of Marmot’s largest-ever mountaineering expeditions to climb and ski Sepu Kangri (6800 meters) in remote Eastern Nepal.

“I realized during the expedition I wanted to give back to the cultures I’d come to love,” explains Ace, who lives full-time in Boulder, Utah, where he will begin and end his ambitious two-month journey, literally from door-to-door. “Making my journey a fundraiser for Nepal and the victims of the earthquake last spring seemed like such a great way for me to give back.”

Although Ace has been on countless expeditions world-wide, he no longer feels the pull to climb Himalayan peaks. “I’m at a stage in my life where I would like to take on longer exploratory journeys,” explains Ace who now leads treks in Northern India and Nepal. “I would like to inspire people to go big, to think big. Age is a limit we impose upon ourselves.”

The 60x60x60 fundraiser, which is detailed extensively on Ace’s Crowdrise page, has already brought in more than $6000 for dZi Foundation and which will go toward earthquake reconstruction efforts in Nepal.

Jim Nowak, the co-founder and president of the dZi Foundation adds, “The money that Ace raises through this event will be used to build 31 schools in Nepal over the next three years. It’s really a great initiative for us.” Nowak also adds, “His trip also demonstrates that real adventure is right here in our backyard—and for Ace, it’s a really big backyard.”

Ace’s two-month journey will follow ancient routes the way the Anasazi moved through the canyon wilderness centuries ago and where guidebooks are useless.

“We will be stepping into canyons that have never known grazing or human habitation of any kind…where every rock, every plant feels sacred,” explains Ace. “Try to imagine the landscape without any roads, where the senses become heightened and a hyper-awareness takes over. It’s like stepping back in time.” 

About Marmot Ambassadors

Marmot’s Ambassador Program started in 2011 with a handful of Marmot’s committed social entrepreneurs and humanitarians that represent various organizations that expand Marmot’s values of global stewardship on a world-wide platform. Marmot Ambassadors and their related organizations include: Sara Agah: Children with severe challenges, veterans and people with life-threatening illnesses (doitforthelove.org); Ben Ayers, Jim Nowak: Sustainable development in eastern Nepal (dzifoundation.org); Jordan Campbell, Ace Kvale: Delivering eye care in remote and underserved populations (http://www.cureblindness.org/); Luanne Freer: High altitude medicine and global health care (medico.org); Sean Swarner: Cancer awareness through climbing and endurance challenges (cancerclimber.org). Additional Marmot Ambassadors include Heather Paul, Sue Purvis and Kim Reynolds who specialize on women’s-specific outdoor education with a focus on skiing and climbing.

About Marmot Mountain, LLC

Marmot is an award-winning, globally distributed brand of high-performance, technical clothing, apparel and equipment. Since 1974, Marmot products have been worn by climbers, skiers, mountaineers and adventurers world-wide. Marmot works with professional mountain guides, world-class athletes and expeditions—pushing the limits of product innovation and technology—pioneering what is possible in the most extreme environments on earth. For more information about Marmot please visit www.marmot.com

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