It
was 1980 while in college I tried downhill snow skiing at Winter Park, Colorado
for the first time. By the end of the
first day I caught on well enough to be running black diamond slopes. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience of
downhill snow skiing. Are you
surprised? It was so refreshing to
inhale mountain air again, view the majesty of big mountains and take advantage
of gravity on a slippery slope.
While
there at Winter Park for the first time I noticed instructors helping the
disabled get involved with the snow ski experience and was impressed that there
were volunteers willing to be there for the disabled and that the disabled were
willing to experience the challenge.
Little did I know I would personally benefit from such unselfish
volunteer instructors years later.
Fast
forward to November 2012. I received a
call mid-November from Sharolyn Snyder from Paradise Ranch over in Springfield
Tennessee. Recognizing me to be active
outdoors with camping, handcycling, kayaking, and wheelchair she called to see
if I would be interested in joining the snow ski experience for disabled at
Winter Park, Colorado in January 2013. I
told her that I would be interested in going but probably couldn't because the
expense of going would be prohibitive for me.
Sharolyn called me back a couple days later saying that she had found a
sponsor for me if I still wanted to go.
How long does it take an outdoor junkie to reply to an offer like
that? I WAS IN!
Airline
tickets were soon purchased for the January 14-18 experience. What would it be like skiing in my paralyzed
condition? I would soon find out.
The
next few weeks after that offer to go was spent in checking to make sure I had
all the gear I needed to stay warm on the snow-covered slopes. Much of the gear I already had for
handcycling in winter conditions.
- Ski pants
- Very Insulated Jacket
- Ski Goggles
- Helmet
- Long Underwear
- Gloves/Mitts
- Insanely Insulated Boots
- Balaclava (covering my head and face)
- Go Pro Camera to record the experience
My sister, Malinda, volunteered to drive me to Nashville
airport on Monday afternoon, January 14.
I felt like somebody important as I was delivered to the departure
curbside. A quick transfer to my
wheelchair placed me on a roll that eventually ended beside a king size bed in
which I would be sleeping that night. Of
course there was a lot of amazing hands, wheels, and wings that helped me span
the distance from Cookeville, Tennessee that morning to Winter Park, Colorado
that evening. I didn't even have to
worry about getting my boarding pass at the kiosk, and check my luggage in
(thank you Jillian and Andrew)! Even
getting through TSA, to the correct gate, on and off the plane, to baggage
claim, into and out of the rental vehicle was made so simple for me. All I had to do was sit there and watch the
expert travelers and caregivers take care of everything! Thanks to everyone involved!
Tuesday morning (about 0630 in my room) started the flurry of
activity necessary to make it to National Sports Center for the Disabled NSCD
by the 0900 appointed time. I was very
impressed with the teamwork required to assist with preparing breakfast, dressing
for cold weather, help those of us that needed help with ADLs, get us fed and
out the door to meet the appointment time on time. Happened all three days of skiing.
The NSCD volunteer ski instructor staff were well-informed
ahead of time what each of our specific needs were to make skiing a custom fit
for us. My instructors for the day would
be Tim and Loren. They were extremely
sensitive to my needs and invited my communication for maximum success of my
snow ski experience. They worked well
together and with me. It felt SO good to
be back in the crisp mountain air although I discovered that by the time I
arrived back at the condo that evening 20 below zero proved a bit frisky to my
ability to stay sufficiently warm. It
took most of the night for me to warm up.
Wednesday morning was a repeat of Tuesday morning with the
exception of a few minutes later start, yet we still made it to the NSCD on
time. The majority of our Tennessee
group chose to go snowmobiling today but I was there for snow skiing so snow
skiing I went. I am so glad because
something clicked well with the instructors I had. Emily and Beck had excellent team working
skills. Emily works full time with
NSCD. Beck is from Alabama where he does
lawn maintenance by summer and ski instructor by winter. Emily is exceptionally good at communicating
directions from behind my sit chair as she tethered me down the slopes. Today we were taking more risks than
yesterday... and more crashes! I felt
that I performed better at a higher rate of speed. Four o'clock quitting time came much too
quickly.
Me and Tim stopping long enough for a photo before heading over the hill behind us.
By Thursday morning we are beginning to develop a rhythm for
getting out the door on time for our NSCD ski instruction appointment time. Rather than making multiple runs with the
rental SUV a local bus service with a wheelchair lift was used to get us to
the base of the slopes. Today Tim and
Rich were assigned to work with me. I
had a positive experience with Tim on Tuesday and was glad to have some
familiarity with his style. Brent and Sharolyn
Snyder made arrangements with Tim and Rich to be at the top of the chair lift
so they could get pictures and videos of my ski experience to add to their
slideshow at Paradise Ranch. Brent and
Sharolyn would ski ahead and video as we approached. During the morning I learned that there are
different instructor styles that work for better or for worse for me. I crashed a lot more this morning but noticed
those crashes happened at slower speeds.
A third instructor was added to the mix during the afternoon. Patrick was younger than Tim and Rich and much
more aggressive when it came to getting me in position for the next chairlift
to the top. By afternoon it was
beginning to click with me how to carve turns for controlling speed and
direction.
A well fed fox at our condo. Notice the size of his shadow.
Before we left the condo that morning it was discovered a
well fed fox was curled up on a sunlit snow bank near the garage entrance at
the base of the condo. An attempt to
draw him close was made with leftover breakfast being tossed at him. He gobbled everything he could possibly fit
into his stomach and then carried a muffin to a snow bank where he dug a hole
and then buried it with his nose. The
leftover breakfast scraps also interested the raven's and magpies. I counted at least 15 ravens and five magpies
hopping around for their part of the leftovers.
The Fox finally gave up trying to defend the food.
The amazing teamwork continued for our Friday return trip
from Denver to Nashville. We left Denver
at 61° and arrived in Nashville with 47°.
Doesn't seem quite right. Malinda
met me at the curb where I was quickly inserted into the front seat of her van
and my luggage loaded. I counted 54
transfers Andrew assisted me with from Monday through Friday. It's a good thing I'm fairly lightweight and
he had sufficient strength for picking me up out of my wheelchair to insert me
other places such as vehicle seats, the bed, etc. It was good to sleep in my own bed that
evening.
The overall snow ski experience was so liberating to my mountain
and motion starved gypsy blood. I am
told that in order to become competitive at snow skiing I will need to graduate
to a mono ski sit chair. I feel I have a
lot of work ahead of me with the bi-ski sit chair before considering a mono ski
which means I need to spend a lot of time in snow country. So many details would have to be overcome in
order to get there, details such as how to cover the cost of living, a snow
worthy vehicle, caregivers, lift tickets, instructor fees, and much more! Unless some pretty amazing financial
gymnastics are discovered I will probably need to discover contentment in
waiting for spring with more kayaking, handcycling, and wheelchair pushing. The same January snow ski trip with Paradise
Ranch in 2014 will be here before I know it.
