Sharing her extraordinary dream to pay tribute to her mother by summiting the tallest mountain in North America is how a Kelowna woman won a Lotto Max Dream Studio 2021 prize.
“I’m shaking, I can feel my heart beating so fast,” Aiyla Forgie said upon learning her entry was a winner.
In its second year, the Lotto Max Dream Studio contest asked participants to submit a 30-second video that answers the question: What’s your dream? More than 230 entries were received in 2021, and five will have the BC Lottery Corp. make those dreams come true.
Forgie’s mother passed away unexpectedly in April 2020, and her submission focused on her desire to pay tribute to her by spreading her ashes at the top of Alaska’s Mount Denali.
“It didn’t matter how big or how crazy my dream was, she was always like, ‘OK, yeah, you can do it,” Forgie said. “Even though this is such a huge, crazy feat, I know that I can do it because I still have that piece of her in me — believing in me.”
Forgie’s prize entails an all-expenses-paid trip to complete her hike to the top of North America’s highest peak, plus a Mountain Equipment gift card, for a total value of more than $13,000.
Forgie adds that her next goal is to complete the Seven Summits by climbing the seven highest mountains on seven continents, with Mount Denali being the first.