Ski Exploration Grant Submissions Due March 1, 2009

Bozeman, Montana…The Hans Saari Memorial Fund (HSMF), a Bozeman based non-profit, reminds ski mountaineers that the deadline for submitting Ski Exploration Grant applications is March 1, 2009. Information on Grants and the Fund can be found at http://www.hansfund.org.

The HSMF Exploration Grant offers a unique opportunity to receive funding assistance through a program designed exclusively for ski mountaineers. Grants are awarded to projects that expand the realm of ski mountaineering through technically challenging routes or uniquely inspirational exploration. Recipients are individuals whose goals reflect Hans Saari’s belief that mountains are an integral part of the lives of the people who live amongst them and that physical achievement is only one component of the ski mountaineering experience.

For 2008, the Fund awarded four grants totaling $15,000. Expeditions visited the Kamchatka Peninsula, Alaska’s Tordrillo Mountains, and the Caucasus Range straddling the Republic of Georgia and Russia.

About the Fund… The mission of the HSMF is to foster an appreciation of skiing by promoting ski exploration and avalanche education. The Hans Saari Memorial Fund was established in 2001, following Hans Saari’s death in the French Alps. Saari had gained an international reputation as a writer and adventure columnist. He was highly regarded for his ski expeditions, many of which yielded first descents from some the world’s most challenging peaks. In addition to its Ski Exploration Program, the Fund provides avalanche education grants and scholarships and runs its Youth Ski Camps in the Tetons and the Sierras, providing young skiers mentoring opportunities with renowned ski mountaineers.

For further information contact:

Andrew Seessel
Hans Saari Memorial Fund
PO Box 10478
Bozeman, MT 59719
info@hansfund.org