Boarding the Bumps

By Vicki Graf

Snowboarder Kelly Nadeau can navigate the slopes with the best of them, winning gold medals along the way. It’s an extraordinary feat for anyone, but the fact that he does it with a vision disability is impressive. Living with low vision since birth, Kelly pushes himself "to do what it takes," he says.

Born in Dawson City, Yukon, 44 years ago, Kelly now resides in Armstrong, a small community in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Diagnosed legally blind in 1995 due to cone-rod dystrophy, he could no longer drive. And, once an avid skier, after four knee surgeries from a 1990 skiing injury in Sunshine, Alberta, he could no longer ski.

After a friend suggested snowboarding, Kelly switched to this sport in 1996 and has never looked back. This turning point set him on a winning course, boarding for a bronze medal in 2001 and a silver medal at the 2002 B.C. Provincial Finals. Kelly, who rides on a Forum snowboard, is sponsored by two companies based in Vernon, B.C.: SOLO Sports for the board and Concept Snow Board Clothing for his gear.

While on the slopes, Kelly uses the tree line, people and shadows to judge distances. Boarders with vision disabilities like his, Kelly says, "are not aware of the bumps until [they] are in them, and [they] rely on the strength in [their] legs to ride them out."

After linking up with "Gimps on the Glacier" coordinator and USASA (USA Snowboarding Association) Adaptive Snowboarding Representative Lucas Grossi, Kelly trained at Mount Crested Butte, Colorado, where he qualified to compete at the 2002 USASA Nationals in Mammoth, California.

By the end of the week at Mammoth, the 11-member Adaptive Team had won a total of nine medals - seven gold and two silver. Kelly was one of four winning medallists, taking home the gold for the Dual GS (Dual Giant Slalom) and the Boardercross events. In the Dual GS, racers go head to head down a course that’s longer, with gates farther apart, and at faster speeds than the slalom. The Boardercross event takes racers through a rigourous obstacle course. Navigating bumps, turns and the other Boardercross racers presents a great challenge, especially to the rider with a vision disability.

In addition to athletes who are blind, snowboarding attracts people with a variety of other disabilities. Snowboarding is easier than skiing for many people with disabilities, partly because there is only one stick to manoeuvre.

Although adaptive skiing is popular, Canadian athletes have not yet embraced adaptive snowboarding. Kelly Nadeau is somewhat of a pioneer of adaptive snowboarding in Canada. No specific adaptive snowboarding organizations have been established yet in Canada, but Kelly is associated with Silver Star Adaptive Snow Sports (SSASS), formerly the North Okanagan Disabled Skiers Association. SSASS is affiliated with the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing, a volunteer-based national organization that promotes snow sports participation for individuals with disabilities.

To raise snowboarding to Paralympic proportions, more riders with disabilities are needed. For now, boarders will continue to compete at regional events and the USASA Nationals.

What’s next for Kelly Nadeau? Now that the slopes are once again covered with snow, he’s training for the World Snowboarding Championships, part of the upcoming World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, B.C. April’s annual 10-day festival is the largest music and snow sport event in North America. You can bet that Kelly will be there, bounding and boarding his way toward more honours.

(Vicki Graf is a freelance writer living in the San Diego area of California, USA.)


RESOURCES

Canadian Association of Disabled Skiing
Phone: (250) 427-7712
Website: www.disabledskiing.ca

Silver Star Adaptive Snow Sports (SSASS)
Phone: (250) 558-1533
Website: www.nodsa.bc.ca

Lucas Grossi’s Gimps on the Glacier
E-mail: originalgimp@hotmail.com
Website: www.original-gimp.com

United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA)
Phone: (530) 308-0001
Website: www.usasa.org

World Ski and Snowboard Festival
April 11-20, 2003
Whistler, B.C.
Website: www.wssf.com