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Adaptive skiing Alaska

It’s time to start what I expect will be one of many posts about an activity that has brought great joy and fun to my family…adaptive alpine skiing.  Every day I check the webcams at Alyeska ski resort and count down the days until Nov. 26…opening weekend!!  Alaskans are unique…we live in a place of brutal winters and yet we simply love winter.  And, what’s more, we love to play outside in the winter.  Rob has been a downhill skier since he was a kid and I’ve learned to love it once I started living with him, so our children didn’t stand a chance.  Unfortunately, when we realized that Quincy would probably never develop the ability to walk we thought we would have to give up skiing.  But, lucky for us Alaska happens to have one of the finest on-mountain adaptive ski programs in the country.  Challenge Alaska ski school changed our lives.  We were able to use the facility to learn about the equipment and skills necessary to take Quincy skiing.  We’ve been part of the Challenge family for at least seven years…first as clients and eventually on our own.  We purchased Quincy her own bi-ski and spent hours on the mountain being trained on how to safely use it.  Rob has earned his Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) Level I Adaptive certificate and will soon be Level II.   On the mountain we have complete freedom…this little family of mine can ski all day long without any one’s help or assistance.  Of course, my other children learned to ski about the same time they learned to walk and they have incredible talent.  Both of my children are members of the local ski team and spend their weekends honing their racing and free skiing skills.  So, every weekend once the mountain opens you know where to find us…tearing up the slopes at Alyeska.  Rob, Quincy and I aren’t hard to spot…we are the ones with the bi-ski and the huge smiles on our faces!!

Handicap accessible Girdwood, Alaska

One thing I want to accomplish in this blog is to draw attention to the communities that we visit with Quincy that are welcoming and accessible.  It’s amazing the different vibe you get every time you travel to a new place.   It’s not just about the physical accessibility of a community for those in wheelchairs but more about the attitude of the folks who live there.  Girdwood is one of those exceptional places.  This little community in South Central Alaska isn’t really all that accessible for those who must be in a wheelchair, but the lack of ramps and sidewalks is made up for by the total acceptance of everyone living there for my daughter.  People don’t blink twice when we enter our favorite restaurant, Chair 5, they just move their chairs make room for us to pass.  No one stares.  No one seems to think there is anything unusual about my litle family making our way through the weather to go to the park or the store or anywhere.  The children don’t stare, the parents don’t mind…we do not offend or frighten, we aren’t even a curiosity.  We are simply a family.  It’s one of the few places I have taken Quincy where we are treated as a completely normal family.  So, Girdwood has become our haven.  We have a small getaway there and spend as much time as we can.  We ski and bike and hike and rest and play and we do it every single day without ever being reminded that we are different.  Amazing people in an amazing town…anyone with a child like Quincy must try to visit Girdwood someday.  It will be worth your effort.

Tags: accessiblity, developmentally disabled children, Stigma of disability, wheelchair