Squaw Valley to Host 2010 Vertical Express for Multiple Sclerosis on March 6-7
In its 25th year, the Vertical Express for MS is a series of on-snow events to benefit the Can Do MS Center (formally The Heuga Center)–a nonprofit organization that allows people with Multiple Sclerosis to live full, productive lives.

Challenge the Mountain. Challenge Yourself. Change Lives!

[Squaw Valley USA] March 2, 2010 – For the past two decades a dedicated group of enthusiastic skiers have gathered at Squaw Valley USA each winter to ski, spend a weekend with friends and raise money for The Heuga Center (now re-named The Can Do MS Center). The 2010 Vertical Express for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), presented by The Alger Family of Funds, EMD Serono, Inc./Pfizer Inc and Rolex Watch USA, hits the slopes of Squaw Valley USA on March 6-7, 2010, challenging skiers and riders of all ages and abilities. Proceeds benefit Can Do Multiple Sclerosis™, a national nonprofit organization and innovative provider of lifestyle empowerment programs that empower people with MS and their support partners to transform and improve their quality of life.

Teams of three skiers/riders raise a minimum of $1,000 to enter the Vertical Express for MS. The day’s activities include on-snow events, exciting prizes, complimentary lift tickets, food and gift bags. Teams that raise $15,000 or more earn a free trip to Vail, Colorado, to attend the April Awards celebration, April 15-18, 2010. Those who can’t attend are invited to participate on-line by supporting another team. Register for the Vertical Express for MS at www.verticalexpress.org or by calling toll free 888.DO.IT.4MS (364-8467).

Squaw Valley was Jimmie Heuga’s home mountain and the place he trained to win the Bronze medal in the Men’s Slalom in the 1964 Olympics. When Jimmie was diagnosed with MS in 1970, his doctors told him to live a sedentary lifestyle. Many years later, he rejected his doctors’ advise and found that swimming, biking and skiing made him feel better and helped him to regain his health.

Jimmie founded The Heuga Center in 1984 to share what he had discovered with others struggling with the disease. The Center’s CAN DO programs are based around this philosophy that people with MS are helped by exercise. The Center’s wellness approach to MS, which focuses on what people with MS can do rather than what they can’t do, is now widely embraced by the medical community. Jimmie will be sorely missed but his spirit lives on in the Center’s work and in all of us who have been inspired by him.

“Thanks to all those who raise funds for The Heuga Center, I was able to attend the five-day CAN DO Program," says Martha Gingrich, past CAN DO® participant. "I learned that I may have MS, but MS doesn’t have me! The information and expert attention I received lifted the veil that MS had over my entire life.”

In addition to the Vertical Express for MS held this weekend, Squaw Valley USA will also be celebrating Jimmie Heuga’s life this Saturday. The celebration will be held at 4pm on Saturday, March 6 on the KT Sundeck. Speakers at the event will include Nancy W. Cushing (Squaw Valley CEO) Tamara KcKinney, Robert Frohlich, Lily Kuncznski and Art Domingue ( Pastor of the Squaw Valley Chapel). A reception will follow in the Vertical Tasting Lounge (VTL) for family and friends.