A father-and-son duo are skiing the length of Aotearoa in a bid to fundraise for the Cancer Society, the non-profit that helped their tight-knit family recover from a devastating diagnosis.
Luke Win and his seven-year-old son, Lochie, have taken on the challenge a year after their first fundraising effort, which saw the then-six-year-old and his dad take on the Cardrona slopes for 40 days to celebrate the alpine resort's 40th birthday. The mammoth task also managed to raise around $11,000 for the Cancer Society - but the determined duo weren't going to stop there.
"This year we thought, we can't just leave it there because [the Cancer Society] still need more money to help [people]," Lochie told The AM Show from the Mt Cheeseman ski field on Tuesday morning.
It follows a turbulent few years for the tight-knit family, who had their world rocked when Lochie's mum and Luke's partner, Rebecca, was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer.
"It's pretty hard for me to talk about it now. When Lochie was about five, we found out Rebecca had cancer. I thought our world as we knew it was over as a family," Luke explained.
"The Cancer Society turned up and helped - we didn't even know them, and they just [did] their thing. It was a very tough time... It was always on the front of Lochie's mind too, we told him more about it as he [turned] a year older."
"I felt sad because I didn't know what it did until dad told me, and I was upset that I [might] grow up without a mum," Lochie added.
Although Rebecca is now doing "much better", the father and son have not forgotten the support the Cancer Society provided for their family.
"So Lochie came up with this idea to ski the length of New Zealand," Luke said.
The two are now taking on New Zealand's ski fields from south to north to raise money for the non-profit, completing the challenge "the good old-fashioned Kiwi way" by camping out in their caravan in each spot as they travel up the country.
The father-son fundraisers are hoping their new endeavour will also promote the range of ski fields across Aotearoa, raising awareness around the unique variety of snowsport hotspots for travellers post-COVID.
"We want to showcase to everyone our awesome ski fields that we have," Luke said.
"We want to promote that to people along with helping the Cancer Society, so it's been big."
"Some people don't know they're there, some people only know Cardrona, the main ones," Lochie added.
And for seven-year-old Lochie, homework is still very much happening - from the comfort of their caravan.
"We're doing homework," he said, while dad confirmed Lochie's school has been "really cool" about their big adventure.
Lochie's 'South to North Adventure' Givealittle page has already raised more than $10,000. All the funds will go towards upgrading the equipment at the Cancer Society's Daffodil Houses.
People can stay-up-to-date with Lochie and Luke's adventure via their Facebook page, Lochie's South to North Adventure Skiing for the Cancer Society.
