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No Mountain Too High
Friday, May 1, 2009 - 12:00am
The Winter Sports Clinic invites disabled veterans from all walks of life to challenge themselves and share in the rewards gained from conquering activities on and off the mountain.
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At age 62, Vietnam War veteran Ron Magnus carves up the slopes at Snowmass. This year marks his tenth time at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic.
Event participants learn more than just sports, however. They come from all across the country and many different backgrounds to find that disability can't keep the determined from experiencing life's greatest challenges and rewards. They find that a lot of knowledge, experience, and joy can be shared in numbers, and there is a literal truth in the old adage, No mountain is too high to climb.
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Dave Wolf, 47, is a U.S. Army veteran who grew up in Colorado but never skied before 2008 at his first Winter Sports Clinic. He has been a wheelchair user for 26 years but says the Winter Sports Clinic was a life-changing experience for him, and he doesn't plan to miss another one. Wolf has a spinal-cord injury as well as an amputation.
"I realized where I was in my skill level and abilities and where I wanted to be," Wolf (pictured on this month's SNS home page) says. "After just one week of trying to ski, I decided I wanted to do this competitively, and my life is better for it. I'm more fit, confident, and on my way to being competitive soon, probably within a year."
Since his first experience, Wolf has been skiing twice weekly. He will receive a specially adapted mono-ski from VA and hopes to be racing by next year's Winter Sports Clinic.
Read more about the experiences of other clinic participants.
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