This year's Black Woods Blizzard Tour raised a record $503,000 to help people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, event organizers announced Thursday.
A record 153 snowmobile riders took part in this year's ride, held Feb. 4 through Saturday. The snowmobilers made a 370-mile trek from Black Woods in Proctor to the Fortune Bay Resort & Casino on Lake Vermilion, on to Two Harbors and then back to Proctor. Riders had to raise at least $900 in pledges each -- $1,200 for first-time riders -- to take part in the event.
The Blizzard Tour has become the largest single fundraising event for the ALS Association, Minnesota Chapter, and the largest individual snowmobile fundraiser in the world, according to its organizers. Over its first 10 years, the event raised $2 million to fight ALS. Two years ago the tour raised a then-record $500,000. Last year's tour raised $470,000.
ALS is a debilitating and always fatal ailment that attacks people's nerves and muscles. It affects 30,000 people across the U.S. and more than 300 in Minnesota.
