Keeping It Real: An Anonymous Story, Part 2*

We recently connected with someone in our community who wanted to share their story anonymously. Check out the second part below and stay tuned for more installments soon.

How did you get into skiing?

When I was six, my grandfather got something in the mail about the Double H Ranch. He called my mom and said that I should go to ski at this tiny (and at the time very new) adaptive skiing program in Lake Luzerne, NY. I started there that winter and I distinctly remember finishing my first-ever run, being pushed over to my grandfather and immediately saying “I feel like I’m flying!” From that moment, I knew that I loved skiing. Within those first few seasons at Double H, I was fortunate to be surrounded by coaches who pushed me to really learn the sport and how the physical movements of my body could help control the ski as much as possible. This is what set the tone for me to be on my able-bodied high school ski team and eventually led me to Breckenridge, CO, where I have skied, trained, and raced for the past 12 years as an athlete in the Hartford Ski Spectacular. This event is organized by Move United and is one of the largest adaptive winter sports events in the country and the race training side of it can serve as a direct feeder system to US Paralympics for qualifying athletes.

What do you love most about adaptive sports?

I love that adaptive sports have allowed me and so many others to pursue legitimate competition. I see myself as an athlete before anything else. Just because I have a disability does not mean I am not capable of achieving something at an elite level. At the same time, being an adaptive athlete does not mean everybody always has to win. Seeing where you fell short forces you to focus on improvement. I train year-round for skiing, including taking up adaptive CrossFit in recent years. Being an athlete has made me take physical therapy seriously, which I never did prior to becoming a competitive racer.

My PT is specifically designed to help me with things like strength, balance, and reaction time, all of which can help shave fractions of a second off my racecourse times. Adaptive sports have allowed me to make friends with other athletes whose disabilities are strictly physical, just like mine. The competitive nature we share has made us very close, as we all continue to push the boundaries of what is possible. For me, the extent of my physical limitations when I am not on the mountain do not give a good depiction of my capabilities as a competitor. I love the fact that skiing allows me to completely forget about those limitations and just push as hard as possible.

*This story is part of KEEPING IT REAL — a series of personal stories that will take you deeper into the lives of people with CP. Each person makes different choices based on what works for them, and we’ll showcase that — highlighting what life is like for them on a daily basis, what they care about, and the ways CP impacts them. 

The KEEPING IT REAL blog is intended solely to raise awareness about the varied human experience with cerebral palsy and shouldn’t be read or construed to contain any medical advice or medical endorsement by Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation. Only you and your doctor know what’s best for you. Please consult your doctor for medical advice.