Gearing Up for the Slopes!

By Geroge Duffield

Winter! For many people with disabilities, the wrod has a meaning all its own. Synonyms might be: horrid, yuck, or any number of other adjectives that together imply, "the worst time of the year!"

For others, whether blind, amputee, paralegic, with polio, cerebral palsy, or any other form of disability, the opposite is true. Winter means FREEDOM! It has become a season when movement with controlled speed and little concern is possible. When one is accepted for his or her own accomplishments, because all in attendance have met and conquered the same challenge. It is a season each actually looks forward to from one year to the next.

What makes the individuals in these two groups so different? The answer is the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing (CADS). This national association has as its mandate the task of making it possible for any person with a disability to enjoy the season of winter through the sport of skiing.

From beginner to expert, recreational skier to racer, Newfoundlander to British Columbian, more than 300 people, most with one disability but some with more, and a support crew of skiers, both able bodied and with disability, make a point of assembling annually at the Ski Festival for the Disabled. At this event, a casual observer might be surprised at the range of classes: beginner to expert, recreational races for fun and personal development and international competition (i.e., CIBC Disabled Ski Meet which features top racers from around the world on World Cup calibre courses).

CADS has an 18-year history of developing skiers and ski programs for people with disabilities. It leads the way in providing instruction for all, regardless of disability. This approach, teaching a single sport to people with different or multi-disabilities, was unique when CADS began, but has become a pattern to study by many sport governing bodies around the world. The result is that many people who often remained indoors for most of the season, are now enjoying winter and expanding their circle of friends and acquaintances through regular visits to local ski areas. In fact, CADS has made it possible for skiers with disabilities to accompany their able bodied friends on ski vacations. They are full confident in their abilities, and that they will be able to participate in every aspect of the trip. This level of achievement has, in many cases, carried over into personal and business lives as well. In fact, the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing has seen participants go on to achieve precedents in their professional lives that a few years earlier would have been considered impossible.

The 1992 Ski Festival for the Disabled is scheduled for April 4-12, at Silver Star Mountain in Vernon, British Columbia. Many past participants will return to further upgrade their skills, takign part in the SKIMP or "Ski improvement" classes. There is always a large group of first-time skeirs who arrive, full of trepidation and self doubt. These individuals will be placed in various classes based on ability or degree of impediment.

Each class will be assigned a ski instructor who has been specially trained to introduce new skiers to the sport, nad to ensure that novices learn to ski with confidnece and self reliance. There is always plenty of moral support from other skiers, and a general atmosphere of camaraderie and fun. By the end of the week, the majority of the group will wondering how they could have ignored the sport skiing for so long. The balance will already be making plans for 1993.

More experineced skiers will have an opportunity to further improve their abilities to include skiing in powder, moguls, more difficult terrain and even racing. A highlight will be to observe some of the international stars of disabled skiing as they participate in the CIBC Disabled Ski Championships. This major event annually brings together teams from approximately ten countries for competition in slalom, giant slalom, Super G and downhill. Each year, the courses at the meet have provided a major test of the athletes. They reached a new plateau in 1991 when the Women’s World Cup downhill course at Sunshine Village Ski Resort in Banff, Alberta, was used for all disciplines except slalom. That test, for both men and women racers, proved that top skiers with disabilities were just as ably equipped and trained to run tough and difficult courses as their able-bodied counterparts. This was another victory for the development of disabled skiing in world competition.

The 1992 Ski Festival for the Disabled will present additional challenges to all participants, form beginner to National Ski Team member. But the major overriding factor, willb e that new friends will be made, and longer term friendships will be solidified and expanded as skiers with disabilities from across Canada and around the world gather to ski together at Silver Star Mountain in Vernon, British Columbia. For information on how you can participate in the 1992 Ski Festival for the Disabled, contact:

Jerry Johnston
Executive Director
Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing
Box 307
Kimberly, B.C. V1A 2Y9

or one of the following provincial offices.

Disabled Skiers Association of B.C.
324-1367 West Broadway
Vancouver, B.C. V6H 4A9

Alberta Association for Disabled Skiers
Suite 890
1520-4th Street S.W.
Calgary, Alberta T2R 1H5

Saskatchewan Ski Association
Disabled Division
17 Clark Crescent
Saskatoon, Skskatchewan
S7H 3L8

Ontario Handicapped Ski Association
1220 Sheppard Ave. East
Willowdale, Ontario M2K 2X1

Ski Quebec
4545 Avenue Pierre de
Coubertin
CP 1000, Succursale M
Montreal, Quebec
H1V 3R2

CADS representatives for provinces that do not have divisional offices are available from the National CADS office in Kimberly, B.C.

George Duffield is responsible for marketing and public relations for the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing.