The Chill Factor Challenge, held on Friday 26 August, saw teams of firefighters complete as many runs as they could down Coronet Peak in two hours, but all the while attached to a fire hose.
Each descent the firefighters made was sponsored, with the money raised donated to the Bruce Grant Youth Trust, a local Queenstown charity that helps youth to undertake sports, arts or cultural activities in which they excel or show a particular interest in.
The Firefighter Challenge, organised by Auckland Airport firefighter Tony Scott, saw two teams venture down from the Auckland Airport Emergency Services Crew to compete against teams from the Queenstown and Wanaka fire brigades.
The event raised over $2000 for the Bruce Grant Youth Trust and organiser Tony Scott could not have been happier with how the day went.
“It was a fantastic day, full of fun and I’m really impressed with the effort all the boys put in. The Trust was over the moon when we handed over the money and I think one of the most important outcomes of the event was the awareness that was raised about the Bruce Grant Youth Trust,” says Tony.
The two Auckland Airport teams flew down to Queenstown on the Wednesday and managed to fit in a practice run on the Thursday, with Tony acknowledging that this made a huge difference to their performance on the day.
“Using the fire hose to get down the mountain was tough work,” says Tony. “We were grateful we had flown down early to practice so that we could figure out a bit of a technique!”
The run down the mountain finished outside the Coronet Peak café, meaning that hundreds of people were at the finish line and getting into the spirit of the day by cheering the firefighters on.
Although this was the first time the event has been held, the day was so successful that Tony plans to make it an annual event.
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