FAQ

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How many people are needed to form a team?

We recommend all teams to have between 8 and 10 people. Any less stretches teams a little too thin but we definitely live by the motto ‘the more the merrier’ so more than 10 people are very much welcomed.

Can I register as an individual and be allocated a team?

Yes! When registering, simply indicate that you are not registering as a part of a team and a member of the Ski For Life team will be in touch to discuss what team you could be a part of.

What roles are played within a team?

There are many roles to be filled to form a great Ski For Life Team. Based on our recommended team size of 8 to 10 people, we encourage you to have team members who have the skills which will allow everyone to have a go at all/most of these roles:

• Skiers (you can tow up to three skiers at a time)
• Observer
• Navigator
• Boat driver
• Car and trailer driver(s) (we call these angels our road crew)

What IS included in my registration?

• Meals (Thursday dinner, Friday breakfast, morning tea, lunch and dinner, Saturday morning tea, lunch and dinner, morning tea, lunch and dinner, Monday breakfast)
• Event insurance
• Non-powered camp sites for our nightly accommodation (powered sites or cabins available at additional costs payable by each individual)

What IS NOT included in my registration?

• Drinks (water, alcohol, juice, soft drink etc.)
• Additional food (snacks)
• Camping gear
• Travel expenses to and from Murray Bridge/Renmark e.g. boat fuel and car fuel.
• Ski For Life merchandise (these are available when registering for tickets or at the event)
• Ski For Life team flag (available for purchase when registering for tickets. This is highly encouraged as a purchase as every team typically has one)

How do we get our car(s) and trailer(s) from start to finish?

Each team should have enough people to form a road crew. Our road crews drive from stop to stop along the river and transport the teams cars and trailers along with any additional snacks, drinks, personal belongings and camp gear. We suggest the road crew swaps around to ensure they also experience time out on the water however many teams have a designated boat crew and a designated road crew. How you manage your teams roles is entirely up to you.

Do we have to fundraise?

While it is not compulsory for teams to fundraise on behalf of Ski For Life, it is encouraged that each team aim to raise a minimum of $2000 to support and fund future grants that will be given out by Ski For Life to community projects, events and initiatives that have a mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention focus.

How do we fundraise?

We recommend using Chuffed.Org and listing your team as a fundraiser under the Ski For Life campaign. Once registered, Amy who is a member of the Ski For Life team will be in touch to assist you with setting up your fundraising portal and getting you and your team on your way to fundraising success.

General Information

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To assist as much as possible for those of you contemplating entering a great event and becoming part of the Ski for Life family we have put together the following to help you along the way.

Download Required Skill Level

The time allocated for each section of the event between scheduled stops is based on an average of 30 km/h. A majority of crews are generally skiing at 45 – 50 km/h which allows you to comfortably meet time requirements. It is not a race so you can choose a speed that you are comfortable with.The river does become increasingly narrower as we go, particularly between Cobdogla and Renmark, which does require some additional navigation through sand bars etc. As long as the driver and navigator pay attention, stick generally to the outside of bends and adhere to any river markers you should be fine. As we get closer to Renmark there are fewer opportunities for boats to drop skier’s and turn around mid-leg. The first two days provide plenty of opportunity to change skiers mid leg with minimal sand bars to negotiate.

Refuelling

The safe bet is to allow 1 litre of fuel per kilometre, it’s far easier to have fuel  left over than need to fill up while floating down the river !!!There will be a fuel trailer that will carry each crew’s jerry cans, this trailer will be able to park close to the boats at each stop which will minimise the distance you need to carry fuel cans. Once refuelling has occurred the trailer then generally heads to a nominated service station so each crew can fill their respective fuel cans and return them to the trailer for the next leg.The trailer will be at Murray Bridge on Thursday night so you can place your full fuel cans straight into it and be all ready to go for day 1.

Communications

We have an ‘Aerial Boat Herder’ (Bob the Pilot in his trusty Cessna) as part of the event. The plane provides important coverage for all boats, communicates to the various locks and event officials on boat position and provides a reliable communication channel if the unfortunate event arises (mechanical issues, sand bars, injured skiers etc).Each boat will also be fitted with a GPS tracker which allows the plane to accurately locate all participants.Phone coverage is patchy along the river so the most reliable form of communication is via UHF Radio. Permanently mounted radios in the boats provide the best coverage; alternatively, handheld 5 Watt radios are more than sufficient. Handheld radios of lower power ratings do still work in areas but do not provide communication coverage for the entire event.It is highly recommended that each crew have a 5 Watt hand held as a minimum.

Boat Launching and Retrieval

All boats will be launched from the boat ramps at the Murray Bridge Marina Caravan Park on the Friday morning before making their way upstream to Sturt Reserve for breakfast and the official start of the event.Boats can remain in the water on the Friday and Saturday night stop overs. Security will be provided at these locations to ensure that all boats and equipment is safe. The facility to remove boats overnight is available for crews if they wish.All boats are to be removed from the river on Sunday afternoon from Renmark, security will be provided overnight in the car park outside of the Paringa Resort.

Fundraising

All crews are encouraged to fundraise for the Ski for Life charity. We appreciate the costs of participating in the event so we don’t set a minimum amount, but we would like for crews to aim for a minimum of $2,000.The links for you to set up your fundraising page will be provided closer to the event once entries have been received. In the mean time there is no reason that you can’t commence your fund raising ventures at any time and either add any donations to your page once established or alternatively directly via the link on the Ski for Life web page.

Charity Auction

We hold a charity auction on the Saturday night at Cobdogla. The auction is carried out in two parts; there is the live auction that encourages some very spirited bidding as well as the silent auction for items that people can nominate their bid for throughout the night.Each crew is encouraged to donate an item for the auction. There is no limit on what can be donated for auction, in the past we have had items such as; Sky Diving, House Boat Hire, Wine, Wet Suits, Knee Boards, Ski Ropes, Whipper Snippers, Eskies, Autographed Cricket Bats, Car Mats, the list is endless.

Water Toys

As we pass through 5 locks throughout the event there is the unfortunate amount of time that we spend in a confined environment. Rest assured there is no shortage of attempts from the crews to keep themselves entertained, so come armed with your favourite water pistols to add to the fun (no water balloons permitted).

Food

Rest assured you will not go hungry, even after 3 days of skiing you will still manage to add to the waist line !!!Meals are catered for fantastically throughout the event all the way from dinner on Thursday night through to breakfast on Monday morning.