Skiing Made Possible

SKIING MADE POSSIBLE FOR ALL WITH ALL ABILITIES

By Helen Weiss Pincus

Despite breaking a leg at his first time on skis, Mickey Goldscmidt of Teaneck was hooked on the sport. The next season, the then 7-year-old was ready to try the trails again. No injuries since, says Mickey, who was taught by his father, who learned from his father.

But cruising along the wintry powdery perfection became a bit more expensive when not part of a family vacation. To cut the costs as an adult, Mickey began to volunteer at The Adaptive Sports Foundation at Windham Mountain. Among the top adaptive sports programs in the nation, children and adults with physical and or cognitive disabilities and chronic illnesses come here to gain the skills and confidence to become independent skiers.

“The staff at Adaptive are very well trained,” says Goldschmidt, who owns Gan Asia, a kosher restaurant in Manhattan. “They know the students and the instructors and they match them up very carefully.”

The volunteer training program includes teaching skills and awareness instruction for working with disabilities, says Jo Kirsch, development director at Adaptive Sports Foundation (ASF). The volunteers, selected based on their skiing/snowboarding and teaching abilities, are also introduced to the specialized equipment available for working with cognitive and/or physically challenged people.

“The first person I taught was autistic,” says Goldschmidt. “You are so well prepared by the staff, that you just know what you are doing. I enjoy furthering the skiing independence of children who have physical or cognitive issues.”

Before a first meeting, instructors are given profiles of the students and then meet with the parents or guardians. Says Goldschmidt: “I’ll talk to them to find out what may help with the lesson, different triggers for the student. If the kid wants to stop for hot chocolate, can we?”

The participants “get to be outside and get to ski to experience the sheer pleasure of moving fast. They gain confidence and independence and become accepted among family members in a different way. When the family goes skiing, now they can too,” he says.

In some cases, the participants will be able to ski independently with regular equipment, says Kirsch. She noted a unique aspect of the ASF, the completely handicapped accessible lodge building allows students to navigate from the entrance, through the building, and directly out to the slopes without changing levels.

Among the programs they organize are the Ride-2-Live Project Snowboard Camp for children with autism: a three day, two night snowboard camp, and retreats from the Tomorrows Children’s Institute in Hackensack, a fun and therapeutic experience for children in treatment for cancer and other blood disorders through outdoor physical activities. Activities include skiing, snowboarding, tubing, and snowmobiling in the winter and kayaking, canoeing, swimming, and fishing in the summer.

For more information on the Adaptive Sports Foundation, call 518-734-5070. www.adaptivesportsfoundation.org.