I’m fortunate each year to get to volunteer my time with Disabled Sports USA for its annual Ski Spectacular event in Breckenridge, Colorado.
What makes this annual event so genuinely spectacular is the mosaic of activities that occur throughout the week – and the incredible outcomes that result from those activities:
- For five days, almost a hundred adaptive lessons each day are received by injured and wounded members of the military and recovering veterans along with others with disabilities.
- Similarly, those same lessons are provided by more than more than a hundred incredibly skilled volunteer instructors who come to the event from all across the country
- Another hundred or more adaptive snowsports instructors also attend to take clinics so that they can become better instructors in the field.
- Dozens of individuals with disabilities take part in racing clinics and races.
- And, individuals with disabilities who are seeking to compete nationally and internationally are able to get classified for their racing factors.
I’m guessing that all told, there must be close to 500 people each year at this week-long event.
The unifying camaraderie that’s present throughout the week is spectacular. Connecting with peers in adaptive recreation from across the country, working on-snow with individuals of all abilities, adapting on the fly as circumstances warrant and doing it all with joy.
While I go to teach each year to the DSUSA Ski Spectacular, I know that I always come back learning so much more.
Ski Spectacular indeed!