bjvircks Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 Last night, as I was anticipating my upcoming trip to Steamboat with my son, I saw a group of 'special needs' young adults. I thought about how much of a thrill these folks would have if someone would spend a day with them and get them skidding around on freeride boards. Has anyone been involved with anything like this? I'm thinking of using the summer to put out feelers to see if anyone here in Iowa might be interested. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 skiing program its pretty rewarding and they could probably use your help too. come on up to the ski-a-thon http://www.skimhs.org/ski_a_thon if you can make it to ME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 AASI has an adapative forum here. They just switched to new forum software so there's not much there yet but you could ask questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleb Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 That is a good idea. I defintly wouldn't mind teaching them how to use snowblades. I'm going to look into things like this for next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 takes awhile to be able to do, being a student I am not sure you would have the time to get all the training needed for a season or two however, there are other things you could do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleb Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 oh aright. What else is there for me to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar(angel Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 we see them on a regular basis on our home mountain. I really admire the courage it must take to do this. Imagine doing what we do at even slow speeds with your eyes closed.....there's also another individual that is in a "sit-down" rig where he's guided from behind by a skier. Maybe that's something for you to look into Gleb? good thread, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 There is a great program for adaptive and blind riders that meets every Wed at Steeplechase (near Rochester). Don't know how far your drive would be, but they are always looking for volunteers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 tune gear, help in the offices, or donate time in any special skills you might have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleb Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 we see them on a regular basis on our home mountain. I really admire the courage it must take to do this. Imagine doing what we do at even slow speeds with your eyes closed.....there's also another individual that is in a "sit-down" rig where he's guided from behind by a skier. Maybe that's something for you to look into Gleb?good thread, Paul thats probably what bob is reffering to as me not having enough time to get trained to do. That would absolutly be something i would want to do though. Special skills...well, you know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... (napoleon dynamite) I don't think those will come into use:) I'm going to look into some of the organizations around here and see how i can help them. Defintly a good thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjvircks Posted March 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 Thanks to everyone for giving this some thought! Keep the ideas and contacts coming. The people I want to work with are (how to say this in proper PC terms) mentally challenged in different ways. Some are mongoloid, others have various mental, psychological or emotional conditions. It would seem that the special skills most required would be patience and caring. Has anyone had any experiences with sharing any sports like skiing and snowboarding with these kinds of challenged older teens or young adults? Sorry, that wasn't a fair question... just by definition any older teen IS a psychological AND emotional condition. ( I've got 2! ;) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinecure Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 Check out dsusa.org. They run sports programs all over the place. In Tahoe they run the Tahoe Adaptive Ski School at Alpine Meadows. Every year I compete in a race/fundraiser and raise a few hundred dollars to support them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarveItUp Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 We were at Holimont in Ellicottville a few weekends ago and we had the luck to ride up with the person who runs the adaptive ski program there. He said they are constantly looking for volunteers to teach and help - to teach understandbly requires more training, but to volunteer requires much less. He mentioned working with autistic, Downs, spina bifida and paraplegics. Some are on "regular" equipment, while they also use sitskis and sitsnowboards. He said the smiles on the person's faces make it all worthwhile. He said most areas have a program, so look into it. You get a free lift ticket out of it at Holimont! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zaphod Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 www.track3.org provides accessible skiing and snowboarding to disabled kids. There's likely an equivalent most everywhere if you look for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 The local outreach program here in my town for disabled persons is called Common Ground. It not only involves winter activities but year round outings like biking, kayaking, fishing and rafting. There's a kid who rips at my local area on a 'sit-ski'. He's up there every weekend on a monoshock seat attached to a custom fitted chair. I'm inspired everytime I see him riding fast and railing turns. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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