Adaptive Skiing

Series Summary

Spinal cord injuries are devastating and have life lasting after effects. It does not have to end an active and fun life however. There are many activities available for those who have suffered a spinal cord injury. Depending on the severity, there are many activities like wheelchair basketball and skiing. Skiing can uplift the spirits just for the simple fact of being outdoors on a mountain surrounded by snow. It could be a very nice change of scenery for someone who is having a tough time dealing with their injury. In this free recreation video series, let an expert winter sports instructor show you how to get on a mountain and ski your way down. Learn how to adapt to skiing with a spinal cord injury as well as learning how to maintain a positive attitude and overcoming mental challenges. Next, our expert talks about finding places to ski, what to ask the resort, how much it can cost, and what equipment and clothing you will need. Finally get safety and warm up tips, head down the bunny slope, and learn how to turn. Spinal cord injuries are tough but get your spirit going with a trip to the great snowy outdoors.

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name's Dave Schoeneck. I want to tell you a little bit about Wasatch Adaptive Sports and just adaptive skiing in general. I work a lot with the mono skis, but the thing about it is if there's a disability, people with so many different types of disabilities, whether they're physical, mental, can get up in the mountains and enjoy the beautiful mountain air, the skiing and do an awful lot of things that maybe at one point in their life they never thought they could do. I, I think the taking the lid off your thinking is important when it comes to disabilities and I've seen individuals do amazing things in a mono ski. Some Paralympic athletes are just absolutely amazing. They ski just like an able bodied person. There's different levels of mono skiing. We have individuals that have higher injuries and some with lower injuries. With the lower injuries, they have more abdominal muscles and they can do different things, and with higher injuries, we have to have more straps and restraints that hold them in there. But the bottom line is, no matter what injury it is, you can get out there and ski and have a great time doing it."