#11 – Taking it all in STRIDE – March 13, 2011

When you live in a mountainous ski area that seems to have exceptionally lengthy winters, one of the only ways to survive the long months is: Ski! That’s pretty much how I made it through my first 23 Berkshire winters. But in 2006, I was spring skiing on some sloppy wet snow, took a spill, and destroyed my shoulder. One of the most unpleasant surgeries I will probably ever have was soon to follow. It took a good year before I could scratch my back with my own hand so, as you can imagine, skiing wasn’t a priority, in fact, I was just plain scared to go again.

Now, almost exactly 5 years later, I made my return to the big hill – but not in the way you might imagine. 25 years ago, Mary Ellen Whitney created the STRIDE Adaptive Sports Program for individuals with disabilities to participate in sport and recreational activities. She immediately enlisted her friend, Rich, who in turn invited me to experience life as a skier who has lost the use of their legs. Since I hadn’t been skiing in years, I was absolutely petrified but ready to bring attention to this worthy organization.



Me and Anna

It was promised to be a gorgeous spring ski day – sunny in the 40’s – but it wasn’t. I woke up to yet another flurry, blowing wind, and patchy clouds. This looked like an opportunity to balk but Rich called and said he was at the mountain and ready for me. Crap.

I picked up his daughter Anna who has been a STRIDE volunteer since helping a little girl who was having a terrible time skiing with the older men. Anna said she loves hearing that students want to know if “Annie” is coming to ski. She skied with a young non-verbal autistic boy as well and I wondered how she knew if he was having fun or not. She said “fun is easy because you get big smiles from the kids (and adults). A bad time could bring tears or flopping in the snow and giving up.” At that point, the strategy is to get them in the lodge for a snack. She said that learning to read the non-verbal cues takes some practice. But it's all worth it.

Various outrigger poles

Some of the disabilities Anna and Rich have encountered and given adaptive lessons to include paraplegia, autism, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, visual and hearing impairments, traumatic brain injury, and the Wounded Warriors. This program empowers disabled adults, invigorates children with special needs, and provides a much needed respite to full time care givers.





 



Getting strapped in



When we arrived at Jiminy Peak, Rich took us to the STRIDE equipment closet. That’s where I got fitted for a bi-ski and outriggers (special crutches with small skies on the ends). Rich decided to attach adjustable outriggers to my bi-ski (these are like training wheels) and I didn’t complain. At the bottom of the lift, I got strapped into the bi-ski. Rich said that my body-fit in the seat is like my foot would be in a boot. He strapped in my feet, legs and body. Being the slightest bit of a Type-A personality, you can imagine that being strapped in and putting all my trust in Rich was very difficult (I have trusted Rich in the past with hiking, water skiing, and tubing and let’s just say it’s always “at your own risk”).

We were allowed to cut the lift line and get right on the lift. Anna and Rich boosted me up as the chair slid between my bucket seat and the skis. I felt like this was the easy part and the greatest challenge for a paraplegic was getting from the parking lot to the lift.



"Trust"





STRIDE workers are all volunteers and carry radios in case they encounter problems. People were looking at me and more so, the ski. I felt a bit guilty being a healthy, able-bodied person. Getting off the lift always has its share of anxiety but now I was at the mercy of my aides. They were in control and I did what they said to do. At first, Rich held the handle bars and guided me to the trail head. Then he attached the tethers to his arms so I could ski myself while he kept me from getting out of control.

At the top, there was no other way down. Keep my outriggers down and out front; use my hips to turn the ski; keep my head on the target; and TRUST! GO! We went down West Way which I had been down many times in the past but never like this. Rich was yelling commands that were hard to hear over the noisy granular snow. Figuring out how to use my outriggers and when to lean with my hips was like learning to tango. I started to figure it out and it felt really cool to make my own turns. When we got down, Rich assured me that we could remove the training wheels and get more response from my turns – did I need more response? Trust…



Black Diamond

 After another green trail and then a blue, Rich needed more. Black. What? Huh? He said the snow was much better and more consistent and Anna was laughing while he was delivering these lines. What the heck? I was practically a pro now – let’s do it! Anna pushed me to the top of Wild Turkey. I know I have done this before and I knew I could do it again (and kept forgetting that this time I was strapped to a sled). We headed down and it was steep and slick. I could feel Rich pulling hard on the reins and realized I wasn’t helping him very much. Hips! Yes! I started to turn side to side and I could hear Rich yelling “Yes! That’s it! Great turns!”


I realized how much I needed to use my hands and arms when trying to control my balance. Rich said he had one paraplegic pull out of the program because he knew that his arms were his lifeline and he didn’t want to risk injury despite Rich assuring him that the risk was extremely minimal. I think a paraplegic would have much stronger arms than mine but after having one false move take out my shoulder, I couldn’t argue. Using the outriggers were an option if you want to have more control of your ski experience. You could also keep your arms inside and let your guide handle the turns as quadriplegics have also been taken down in the bi-ski.



After four runs – two on easy trails and two black diamonds – it was time to go in. My hands and feet were freezing and my toes were numb. Sitting in the bi-ski doesn’t give you much of a workout or allow you to generate much heat. I was fortunate to know that my feet were cold as someone with no feeling would have to take extra precautions to keep their limbs from freezing. The heat in the car would feel good. I really can't believe I put this task off all winter - one of the best ski winters ever in the Berkshires!



Navigating the black diamond trail

I accomplished a few different things on this task. I got out onto the slopes again (and I am actually anxious to go with skis on my feet). I was able to put on the boots of someone who was either born with a disability or had a life changing injury and showed that they can still enjoy a very challenging sport. I was able to introduce a few more people to the STRIDE organization and just one of the many programs they have to empower individuals with disabilities. And finally, a personal favorite, I was able to take Rich down for his first fall of the 2010-2011 ski season - Winning!

Please click to learn more about STRIDE!!

Rachael is a 16 year old volunteer with STRIDE. Here is what she has to say about it:
"I've had a great experience with Stride! I have done the camping trips in New York State and Skiing with Stride so far and would like to do more. I have been skiing for about two years and only one year with Stride and hope to do it in the years to come. My great Stride skiing experience is teaching Sam, a seven year old boy, who is physically and mentally disabled,(one of the kids I ski with a lot). I teach him to ski without clinging to the instructors and being able to teach him how to ski on his own. Yes, I look forward to it each week because I love working with children with disabilities and that is what I would like to do when I am older."

I got even for this one!