Thomas Attebery
Staff Writer
The Cooperative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor Group began its program to give students with various disabilities the opportunity to ski Thursday, Jan. 12.
The Pocatello Adaptive Ski School works in coordination with Pebble Creek Ski Area.
“PASS provides equipment and assistance to students of all abilities; we have a myriad of equipment that can get pretty much anyone skiing,” said Robert Ellis, outdoor recreation coordinator for CW HOG. “There is also another component of it, where we have a lot of students that are learning to teach people with disabilities. So we’re teaching folks with disabilities to ski, and we’re teaching able-bodied individuals how to instruct them.”
PASS had its first instructor training on Jan. 6 to familiarize the student instructors with various kinds of disabilities.
“We also provide skiing for when the middle schools go up, so Inkom, McCammon, Malad, Pocatello – if they have students with disabilities, they call us and then we go do lessons for them,” Ellis said. “We’re just getting started this year, but last year I think we skied with about forty different skiers.”
The different equipment involved with giving disabled skiers the chance to ski includes a 4-track (two hand held outriggers and two skis) for skiers who have the use of both legs but have balance or hip-strength issues, a 3-track (one ski with two hand-held outriggers) for one-legged skiers, and biski and monoski seat apparatuses for skiers in wheelchairs.
Tom McCurdy has used a Monoski for the past 26 years after an accident left him without the use of his legs.
“I would assist with instructing when I was up skiing,” McCurdy said. “I learned to ski again after my accident through CW HOG, and then I became pretty good at it. I never went and got certified, but being fairly decent at it I could go along and ski with a new beginner and give them tips and pointers and help them move along quicker than they could without my input.”
McCurdy said the difficulty of learning to ski with a disability can vary.
“It all depends on your disability. I’m paralyzed from about the tip of my sternum down, and that’s sort of borderline for being able to be in a monoski,” he said. “But I figured out some ways to put in some extra strapping and support, so I could be more stable even though I had a higher thoracic injury.”
PASS also helps those with other disabilities such as blindness, auditory impairment and cognitive difficulties.
“Those mainly involve creative teaching. What ways can you get them to understand what you want them to do to reach your desired outcome,” Ellis said.
The program has been running for about thirty years, and Ellis has been in his position for about twelve of those.
“I love it,” Ellis said. “It changed my life. The first time we went up there, there were all these people in wheelchairs that I thought at the time maybe I didn’t have anything in common with, but they turned out to be some of the greatest people I’ve ever met. I think skiing does a lot for people other than just getting them outside. Seeing these people learn to do something they thought they couldn’t do is great. I love watching that.”
