A memorial ski race will be held Saturday at Purgatory Resort in honor of Ken Portz, a longtime Adaptive Sports volunteer who died skiing in Utah earlier this month.
Adaptive Sports Executive Director Ann Marie Meighan said the race will occur at the NASTAR course. Anyone interested in participating is asked to meet at the top of Lift 6 (Needles) at 11 a.m.
“We’re going to do a memorial run through the race course for Ken,” she said.
Portz, 70, died March 9 while skiing at Deer Valley resort in Park City, Utah, after falling and colliding with a pole in the finish area of a racecourse.
According to Meighan, Portz volunteered with Adaptive Sports for a decade. In 2008, he won the organization’s “Rookie of the Year” award given annually to new volunteers.
Meighan said Portz’s wife, Victoria, will be coming to town to participate in the race. Other members of his family are unable to attend, but Meighan said they will film the event to send to them.
Portz was a former ski racer who worked with higher-level skiers at Adaptive Sports, prepping them for local and regional races.
“Ken was a hardcore ski racer,” Meighan said. “We just wanted to do something to honor him.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
