THE 9TH ANNUAL CHRIS RUBY MEMORIAL CUP IS SATURDAY, JAN. 13, 2024
This month marks 10 years since Lee Canyon’s community mourned the loss of Chris Ruby, a 20-year-old Las Vegas snowboarder who passed away in a tragic accident. Today, Lee Canyon announces the 9th Annual Chris Ruby Memorial Cup is Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. The family-friendly, all-levels ski and snowboard race runs from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; awards are at 4 p.m. Register is $20 and available online. Lee Canyon covers registration fees for those who become donors at the event or are currently donors. All proceeds go to Nevada Donor Network, a nonprofit that coordinates, recovers, and allocates lifesaving organs and tissues for transplant to patients locally and worldwide.
The event is one of Lee Canyon’s most inspiring winter events because of the “why” behind it and the results it has generated.
“Chris Ruby was a registered organ donor, and through the Nevada Donor Network, his organs and tissues helped or saved more than 90 patients, including one of his family members. Over the years, we’ve worked closely with the Ruby family, who are longtime skiers, to continue Chris’legacy,” says Jim Seely, Lee Canyon’s director of marketing.
Since the first event in 2015, thousands of skiers and snowboarders have registered as organ, eye, and tissue donors at the event, which is important in fast-growing Nevada. In Las Vegas, more people than ever are skiing and boarding. Another part of Ruby’s legacy is cultivating community among new and old residents.
“Like Las Vegas, Lee Canyon is growing and changing. But what’s been a constant is people’s willingness to show up and support the Ruby family and Nevada Donor Network. Our community of skiers and boarders is bigger and stronger than ever,” says Seely.
In 2017, Lee Canyon received the Nevada Donor Network’s Community Champion Award.
For those who can’t attend the Chris Ruby Memorial Cup but want to contribute to the Nevada Donor Network, an online donation is possible through http://bit.ly/2Gw8bCO.
“The Nevada Donor Network Foundation appreciates Lee Canyon’s commitment to helping us end the wait. We are honored to bring awareness to the ultimate gift Chris Ruby gave through donation. His loved ones’ ongoing support is imperative to saving and healing even more lives in 2024,” says Steven Peralta, president of the Nevada Donor Network Foundation. “By choosing our organization as their charitable partner during the 2024 Chris Ruby Cup, they honor their heroic donor son and the legacy he left behind. Lee Canyon has been tremendous in matching dollars raised each year. We are grateful and humbled by strong community partners like Lee Canyon and the Ruby Family whose support will change the lives of many.”
Guests planning to visit Lee Canyon can purchase tickets online and in advance. For more information, visit www.leecanyonlv.com.
