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Flag of Colorado
No Mountain Too High In Winter Park
By Bonnie Neely
Winter Park, Colorado, backed by the beckoning Mary Jane ski slopes, appears to be just another fun ski village, but it is so very much more! Beautifully situated at an 8,658 foot altitude in the "Alps of the U.S." about an hour from Denver, Winter Park is a wonderful ski resort, popular in part for its easy accessibility from the city by car, or by Ski Train from Denver, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Winter Park has excellent lifts, instructors, carefully run children's center, inspiring scenery, very good accommodations and restaurants. But the big difference at Winter Park is your fellow skiers with whom you will share the mountain...You'll be moved by and telling others about your ski holiday here for the rest of your life...
As we were taking in a breath-taking view while readying our pole straps for a whiz down the slopes, we were suddenly passed by a couple holding what appeared to be a strap. The man was giving directions to the teen, and at first we thought this to be a beginner ski lesson. But looking closer, and wondering at the degree of difficulty of this slope for a novice, we realized that the teen skier was blind! The instructor skiied just in front and described the terrain and gave directions to his partner. Wow! For a few brave moments I tried to ski with my eyes closed to get a feel for how astonishingly brave the young skier was, but I couldn't make myself continue down the mountain. A few minutes later, on this fairly difficult intermediate slope, a man with no legs passed us on his seated slolom ski, maneuvering the snow much more adeptly than we, and with a huge smile on his face! What an incredible inspiration!
In the 1960's a man named Hal O'Leary was inspired by a skier in Austria who used his crutches to ski. Hal had learned about the Outrigger, a unique ski developed in 1962 for the disabled. And O'Leary knew of a ski program at Mt. Hood in Oregon for child amputees. Hal, a normal skier himself, tied up his own leg behind him so that he could practice skiing as an amputee might. He tested maneuvers to learn if one-legged skiers could weight-shift and move in the same way as normal skiers to direct and balance themselves. Testing, learning, improving methods, Hal O'Leary kept his dream growing: to inspire and enable the disabled to enjoy the sport he loved.
Winter Park is unique as a ski resort in that it is not privately owned but funded by the City of Denver as a non-profit organization. That made it the perfect place for Hal O'Leary to start to build his dream of the disabled program in 1970. When his teaching technique was perfected Hal wrote a Manual for Disabled Skiers and convinced the CIty of Denver that their unique non-profit status at Winter Park was the perfect place for the program he was inspired to champion, determined to teach people of any age with any type of disability to learn how to downhill ski.
That first year the program had three retarded participants, who had fun and learned a lot, and felt successful. The second year they included blind and mentally retarded students. By the third year, in 1973, the program's success was catching on and more people came with more disabilities. In those days Jerry Groswold, the President of Winter Park, intervened to convince the Trustees to fund the handicap program, which the normal ski school directors felt would lose money. Although Winter Park is a non-profit organization, it operates like any corporation with a profit motive, in order to continue to be self-perpetuating for facilities and programs.
"Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it," was Hal's motto, and he proved his point. Today Winter Park
is internationally acclaimed for its amazing National Sports Center for the Disabled, which offers various sports programs for physically and mentally challenged children and adults from all over the world to learn skills, gain confidence, and have fun. Over the years programs were developed for all types of year-round sports for any kind of disability and any age participant. In winter alpine (down hill) skiing, Nordic (cross-country) skiing, snowboarding, and ski racing are the focus of lessons and fun, with holiday camps, and competitions.
One skier who is the victim of MS told me, "Skiing to me IS life really, because when I can ski it helps ALL my muscles, and I'm able to do 100% more. It improved my physical and also my mental condition. Skiing is a sort of medication that once you do it and make it part of your routine, it lasts a lifetime. It'll get me into swimming in summer and exercize in fall, so I stretch and helps prevent muscle atrophe. I moved here to have access to this."In summer the fun includes rock climbing, rafting, sailing, biking, camping, horseback riding, baseball camp, golf, in-line skating, fishing and fly fishing, with programs continuing through mid-September. Another
NSCD is operated by both paid and volunteer workers, all trained professionals. One disabled man said, "I volunteer here any way I can. It's just like being normal when I get into the center because everyone here has a problem!"
Now the National Sports Center for the Disabled sponsors Adapted Sport Symposiums and sessions for professionals in the adapted sport, therapy, physical education and skiing industries. Not only are techniques taught to these professionals from everywhere so that they can help disabled people in their hometowns to have fun, but also the latest adaptive sports equipment is demonstrated and assessed. (970-726-1646 or 303-316-1646) or email bfox@nscd.org.
I talked with a young man sitting on adapted skis, and he stated, "Accidents can disable anyone...My spinal cord injury made my world end...This enables me to participate in a mainstream sport. It's addicting!"
"One of the instructors told me,"Being sheltered removes the excitement from life. It is a major fete to get into a car or a store. We give them the 'rush' of motion which their accident has prohibited them. We give the 'rush' back!."
There is adaptive equipment and methods for every kind of disability you can think of, and the center sets the equipment carefully and individually for every participant if they do not have their own. Sometimes the person even gets to keep the equipment. If money is a problem, NSCD finds a way to enable the person to come and enjoy anyway.
To fund the many programs there are several fun events sponsored by the city of Denver. These include the Annual Black Diamond Ball at which the Athlete of the Year is presented and the Bold Tracks Award is given to the individual or corporation that has shown the most exceptional support of recreation for people with disabilities. The Hal O'Leary Golf Classic and Dinner is another popular event, with the hole-in-one prizes which include $10,000 and a new car! ((970-726-1543 or 303-316-1543) Local restaurants sponsor an Annual Rocky Mountain Wine, Beer & Food Festival with in wine and beer tasting and more than 200 wines from all over the world and samples of many brews. Participants also enjoy cuisine from many of the local restaurants. (970-726-1545 or 303-316-1545) In February NSCD hosts the Annual Columbia Crest Cup, one of the premier qualifier competitions for the U.S. National and Championships and for membership on the U.S. Disabled Ski Team. This race also is the only one in the country that integrates a full field of able-bodied teen racers to experience interaction and fun and friendship across the ski-racing community. (970-726-1548 or 303-316-1548)
Looking at pictures or disabled award winners, I found this tribute when I was in the Center. It says it all:
"You took this troubled heart
Released my spirit,
Made the joy of movement
Mine once more.
To anyone who fears,
Show them also
That all is possible
When so richly loved as this.
Challenging the pity of other,
Conquering doubt in themselves.
Justly to all the skiers,
All my friends
Belong these golden rewards.
(By Cindy Castellano 1980)
Many facilities and accommodations at Winter Park are barrier-free and adapted for all kinds of handicaps.
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Thanks for visiting us!
Real Travel Adventures International Magazine
© 2003 Bonita Productions Inc.
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