The One putting ABILITY into disability!

One smile from 12-year-old Ethan and I knew the next few days on the snow were going to be good ones. Choosing his words carefully and speaking slowly, Ethan was happy to tell me that he was from Sydney, Australia and that he DID NOT want to go skiing. Not one to back down from a challenge, I happily informed Ethan that we were going to give it a shot anyway!

Using a combination of wedge supports, tethers, and constant reminders to Ethan that we were not racing in the Olympics just yet, we spent a few wonderful days getting our ski on! Watching Ethan evolve from being frustrated with the task of actually putting his skis on to progressing enough to make it down the slope nearly unassisted was absolutely awesome! But there was more – when we weren’t sliding down the snow on our ski’s, Ethan and I were sliding with other options: hurling down hillsides on our slick pants and spinning wildly on innertubes! I’ve never seen such an incredible smile as Ethan’s when he was flying on his innertube down the hill in the midst of laughing and shrieking with elated joy. The dark-haired freckled boy reminded me of why I love throwing caution to the wind and letting myself be a kid again!

And then there is Mia…future Paralympian extraordinaire! Mia is 14-years-old and already has the competitive drive and intense determination of someone destined to do great things in this world. Although I am technically supposed to be assisting Mia with riding on her monoski, I’m pretty sure she’s actually the one helping me out. Thanks to Mia’s mad skills, I’ve been forced to keep up with her and in turn, have been progressing quite a lot since starting to ski with her.

Because Mia doesn’t own her own ski just yet (anyone interested in donating $ to a good cause?), she’s been banned from hitting rails on the rental gear…but nobody said anything about jumps! You think Shawn White looks cool doing Double McTwists in the halfpipe? Small fries people… Mia hitting jumps and catching air on her monoski takes the icing on the whole friggin cake! The other day when Mia landed a jump that I wouldn’t even think of doing, I’m pretty sure I was more excited then she was!

With each day spent on the snow Mia has been charging faster and hitting it harder and I have no doubt that in four-years time we’ll be watching her representing New Zealand in the 2014 winter Paralympics! You go girl =)

-Ash

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”