One in a million: Acton skier raising cash to fight blood cancer

One year after skiing hundreds of thousands of vertical feet to raise money for blood-cancer research, Concordian Chesley Chen has gone even further. 

Chen just reached a personal milestone by skiing 1 million vertical feet over about 50 days. He said that’s roughly double what a serious recreational skier might log in the same period. Factoring in the twists and turns along hundreds of runs, it works out to about 916 miles of downhill skiing, he says.

“I’m about to turn 70,” he said, “so it’s not like I’m a 25-year-old doing this thing.”

Chen began fundraising for research after his son Tristan was diagnosed in 2022 with acute myeloid leukemia, a life-threatening bone marrow cancer. After witnessing his son’s rapid physical decline and then his recovery, Chen wanted to support the organizations and doctors who helped save him.

He has said his goal is not only to raise money for research and patient services, but also to share Tristan’s story, giving hope to other families facing similar diagnoses.

Tristan is an avid rock climber, operating at the elite level before his diagnosis. Within nine months of treatment, he was back to the sport, and Chen said he’s “still doing great.” 

As of March 13, Chen had raised about $21,700 toward a goal of $25,000 for this year’s fundraising effort. Combined with the $38,000 gathered through last season’s challenge, Chen has raised nearly $60,000 for Blood Cancer United. 

According to Chen’s own tallies, his most recent mission involved 724 ski runs, more than 105,000 turns — “some more graceful than others” — over 8,000 miles of driving, one pulled hamstring, and one collision with a tree. 

After last year’s success, Chen was named the non-profit’s first volunteer “ski ambassador.” He says the role involves informal outreach to fellow skiers, sharing information about free patient resources alongside fundraising efforts.

“What I do is engage people on the chairlift and talk about Blood Cancer United,” he said. “I find that to be a lot easier than directly asking for money.” 

For Chen, the physical challenge of his feat pales next to what his son endured.

“If Tristan can go through what he did,” he said, “then skiing a million vertical feet is nothing compared to that.”

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