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Over the previous six years, Schwartz Communications has provided PR support to The Hartford Ski Spectacular and Disabled Sports USA. The 2006 Hartford Ski Spectacular garnered almost 22 million media hits – largely due to their efforts.
More than 750 participants from eight countries and 38 states hit the slopes for the 2006 The Hartford Ski Spectacular, held Dec. 3-10 at Beaver Run Conference Center and Resort in breckenridge, Colo. The athletes ranged from first-time skiers to members of the U.S. Disabled Ski Team (USDST) – with many of the return skiers mentoring young athletes with Paralympic dreams.
The 19th annual event, hosted by Disabled Sports USA and The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. was the biggest ever – with 80 American and British Wounded Warriors and their family members attending as part of the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project. Learn to Ski and Learn to Race clinics were provided to all participants, and by the end of day one, all athletes were skiing off the chair lift.
One of the Wounded Warriors who used a mono-ski for the first time was Army Spc. Natasha McKinnon, 23, who by the end of the week was skiing without the aid of an instructor. McKinnon, a below-knee amputee, was injured in Iraq as a result of an IED. She says that skiing and participating in other sports has helped her on the road to recovery, beyond traditional physical therapy, since sports are a stress outlet and allow her to participate in something she enjoys.
“I knew it was going to be a rough recovery [when I got injured], but re-learning how to participate in sports let me know that I could do it, and allowed me to make important mental and physical adjustments throughout my life,” McKinnon said. “I’m still pushing myself to do more.”
In addition to the Wounded Warrior special guests, The Hartford Ski Spectacular hosted hundreds of athletes at a variety of different levels. Activities for the week included the following:
Members of U.S. Paralympic teams sponsored by The Hartford raced, coached, and lent support to the other athletes. They included Paul Martin, Ron Williams, Sandy Dukat, Chris Devlin-Young, Allison Jones, Brad Johnson, Kelly Crowley, and Allison Ahlfeldt.
Training camps for promising young racers and Wounded Warriors allowed many skiers, like Army Sgt. Brandon Dale, 23, to go from never putting on skis to skiing comfortably on advanced Black Diamond trails by the end of the week. Another Casino Night fundraiser was held to support a larger program in 2007.
Top racers joined members of the USDST to compete in two elite level races to kick off qualification for the World Cup and the U.S. Disabled Ski Championships. A Corporate Challenge Race for novice racers and corporate sponsor representatives was also held. Stephanie Victor (USA) and Tyler Walker (USA) took home the gold for the sitting Slalom race and Sandy Dukat (USA) and Carlos Rahls-Rahbula (AUS) won the standing division. The next day saw Laurie Stephens and Carl Burnett win the gold (seated) as well as Arly Fogarty (CAN) and George Sansonetis (USA, standing) in the GS race. Rebecca Camp-Allen (USA) won the women’s visually-impaired GS race.
The first ever USSA coaches clinic at The Hartford Ski Spectacular saw 16 coaches complete the two-day training course with former USDST Head Coach, Kevin Jardine, USDST Head Coach Ray Watkins, and NSCD Competitions Director Erik Petersen.
Instructors and volunteers from local disabled skiing programs throughout the nation attended classes on the latest techniques in adaptive skiing methods. The only program of its kind, the PSIA Adaptive Academy is sanctioned by the Professional Ski Instructors of America.
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Camera crews from the CBS Early Show and Evening News, and PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer were on hand to capture the action during the week.
The effects of the event are still being felt by the participants and their families. Cynthia Lefever, mother of Army Spc. Rory Dunn, wrote in a letter to DS/USA, “We’re still glowing from our experience in Breckenridge… It was great for Rory to be around other fellow injured service member skiers because he felt inspired by their human spirit of fortitude to keep going.”
Photos of The Hartford Ski Spectacular 2006 by Ken Watson can be found at www.kenwatson.net.
We look forward to seeing everyone back in 2007 to help Disabled Sports USA celebrate it’s 40th anniversary and the 20th annual The Hartford Ski Spectacular, December 2 – 9, 2007, Breckenridge, Colo.
For up to date info on the upcoming Ski Spectacular visit www.dsusa.org/programs-winter-hartford.html. |
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For David Eynon, a former Royal Artillery Gunner, the Austrian mountains are a long way from Iraq. An above-knee amputee that lost his leg only a year and a half ago in the war, he is about to make his first ever run on a skibob in Solden, Austria, as part of the British Limbless Ex Service Men’s Association (BLESMA) annual Rehabilitation Skibob Week. Though nervous now, by the end of the week he will descend confidently from the top of the mountain.
BLESMA’s Skibob Week (ski-bike in the U.S.) is designed to teach veterans with recent traumatic amputations to skibob; in their experience, one of the most effective ways of restoring confidence and morale. Now in their seventeenth rehab trip to Austria, this year BLESMA brought 27 members to the small town of Solden in the Austrian Tirol.
Starting with an introduction to the mountain environment, BLESMA uses instructors trained and certified by the Ski-bob Association of Great Britain (SAGB) to progress their students through a series of skibob skills. At the end of each day the instructors, also amputees, hold daily assessments of their students with the Chief Instructor, including technical skills and physical or equipment challenges. The last day of the week includes a final assessment – each student will be tested and awarded a medal according to their level of skibob proficiency and mountain-craft, ranked from Bronze to Gold.
Although the ski-bike is a relatively new piece of adaptive equipment in the U.S., it has been used for decades in Europe. BLESMA has found the skibob an ideal piece of adaptive equipment for amputees and other injured soldiers. The bob is stable, easy to learn on, and most students progress quickly during their week from never-ever skiers to being able to negotiate intermediate and even advanced black runs! Because the bob effectively unweights the legs, it can be utilized by both above- and below-knee amputees without damage or stress to their residual limbs.
During the week, the entire team stays at a small, family-run hotel and shares meals, drinks, and stories from the day. Friendly competition and coarse military humor combine to build team spirit. Recent and more experienced amputees benefit from living closely and encouraging each other.
Earlier this year, BLESMA sent a team to DS/USA’s Ski Spectacular in Colorado. They saw for the first time what disabled skiers with other disabilities were able to achieve, including those utilizing different types of adaptive equipment at the event. They will return to next year’s Ski Spectacular with even more wounded veterans and hope to promote an exchange of ideas, skills, and rehabilitation techniques. Collin Rouse, leader of the adaptive ski project, realizes the benefit of soldiers that have served and suffered injury together undergoing their rehabilitation together. He hopes to cosponsor future events with DS/USA and the Wounded Warrior Project.
By the end of the week, David and his mates are both exhausted and proud of what they’ve achieved. Learning to skibob has given them back the freedom to access the mountains. It’s taken them to places that only a week ago they might never have thought possible. Together they challenged perceptions of their own abilities and what they can achieve. While the week has been about learning to skibob and overcoming difficulties – most will have learned much, much more.
For more information, visit www.blesma.org, www.skibob.org.uk, and www.ski-bike.org.
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