Many representatives from the National Ability Center are in Colorado participating in the Hartford Ski Spectacular this week. Program Director/Competition Program Manager Ellen Adams, program manager Kim Millikan, NAC co-founder and former CEO Meeche White and others are teaching lessons, attending workshops and sharing ideas with other great organizations who work in the adaptive ski industry. Kim took a moment this morning to share a couple of experiences from the week.
My week has been fantastic. I've been teaching all week. My main student is a veteran who lost his arm in Afghanistan. He rocks. He described to me the events surrounding the attack and his reaction with humor and candor. Not only did he expect to die, but he was laughing about what a great life he has had (holding his jaw to his face as he did so). He took snowboarding lessons at the Winter Sports Clinic for Disabled American Veterans last year, but thought he would not recall as much as he did. He came to our first lesson on a beginner board (designed for the first few lessons) and a humble attitude. We very quickly went through the entire beginner progression and it became more and more clear that he was definitely NOT a beginner. I made him exchange the board after the first 3 hours. The next day we were gliding smoothly down steep blue runs all over the mountain. Although the temps and wind were brutal we rode a full day. Yesterday with temps in the single digits (at the bottom of the hill) we found our first stash of fresh unskiied gentle powder and he attacked it the same way he has everything else on the hill. He bounces right up when he actually falls, asks for drills to improve every tiny aspect of his riding, and smiles from ear to ear when he talks about going home and showing his friends and family how to ride. Often people either get down to business and focus on the riding or enjoy being on the mountain and the beauty. He manages to do both! Great!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of teaching a lesson to one of the spouses of a veteran. She rocked. From moment one I liked her. She looked at me and said "if my husband can be out there riding black diamonds with a brain injury I should be able to at least get myself out there". Needless to say, her attitude and spirit were amazing, and I was just as giddy as she when she started lining beautiful turns down her second run.
Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!
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