Moving Mountains

Adaptive athletes redefine the slopes

Photos courtesy of Lawrence Green

Story by Madeline Thielman

Lawrence Green shouldn’t be alive. One fateful day in March 2015, Green was riding his motorcycle in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, when a vehicle suddenly pulled out in front of him. He was unable to stop in time, throttled out and bounced across the road before being thrown from his motorcycle and slammed into a tree.

He was placed in a medically induced coma for 30 days and given a 3% chance of survival. Upon waking up, Green had the sensation that his legs were asleep, only to be told he had lost both of his legs above the knee in a bilateral amputation.

After starting the recovery process, Green connected with the High Fives Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that supports adaptive athletes. High Fives was founded in 2009 by Roy Tuscany, a semi-pro skier and coach who suffered a spinal cord injury after a ski jump accident. Touched by the support from his community during his recovery, Tuscany started High Fives as a way to give back to athletes and veterans who sustain life-altering injuries.

“The first time I had ever skied in my life was as an adaptive sit-skier,” Green said. He was always interested in skiing, but as a native Texan, the nearest mountain was a nine-hour drive away. “I'd always had an interest, and my brother had actually been snowboarding many times before, but we had never gotten the chance to go together,” Green said.

On his first day skiing, as he sat in the molded bucket seat of the sit-ski, Green was apprehensive. “You're sitting on this single ski, and that's all that's on the ground. It has anywhere from 80 to 100 millimeters of an underfoot, so you're sitting on this really narrow plank, basically trying to balance. It really made me nervous at first, but once you're moving, it's almost like riding a bike,” Green explained.

Despite his initial nerves, Green quickly took to the slopes and found his newest passion. “It feels freeing. Just the feeling of sliding down the mountain on the snow, wind blowing through your face. It just feels amazing.”

According to the High Five Foundation’s website, there are three types of sit-skis — adaptive bi-skis, which use two skis; adaptive ski bikes, which use a bike frame as a seat; and adaptive mono-skis, which use a single ski.

Green uses an adaptive mono-ski that has been specially fitted with a four-point harness originally designed for use in UTVs. “Mono-skiing is one of the most challenging things to learn with the highest learning curve. It sucks for the first few days. It's very, very challenging,” said Dani Trujillo, program manager at High Fives.

To control the sit-ski, Green uses a combination of different techniques and specialized equipment. “It's a lot of core movement,” said Green. He forms a C-shape with his body, keeping his shoulders level with the ground while lifting the opposite hip to the direction of the turn. He uses outriggers on his arms to help maintain his balance and control the turn. “They’re basically forearm crutches with a little ski on the bottom of them,” said Green.

For over 30 years, skiing has been a central part of Stefanie Sarason's life. A veteran cross-country skier and two-time Special Olympics World Winter Games gold medalist, she still finds time to appreciate the quiet majesty of the mountains. “Sometimes, you have to stop and look at the scenery when you're skiing and just take in the fresh air,” she said.

She prefers cross-country over downhill skiing as it allows her to get more exercise, and best of all, “there are no lift lines.” Cross-country skiing takes place on flatter, groomed trails that can challenge an athlete’s endurance and technique.

Sarason first competed in the World Winter Games in 2009 in Sun Valley, Idaho, where she earned two fourth-place ribbons. When her name was drawn for the Vienna, Austria, games in 2016, Sarason knew she had her work cut out for her, both on and off the snow. “I knew that I had a lot of work to do, training wise at the gym and learning another language,” she said.

In Vienna her team went on to win gold in the 4x1 unified relay. “As we were staging [for medals], I turned to the French team and I just exclaimed, ‘Viva la France!’ and I started hugging everyone,” Sarason said.

Sarason is also a member of the Skihawks racing team, who first entered her life in 1994 as she was seeking more activity than the monthly meetups she was attending at her local community center could offer. Founded in 1982 by Sandee and Gordy Brock, Skihawks supports participants with a range of abilities, including athletes with cerebral palsy, autism, down syndrome and learning disabilities. Skihawks isn’t limited to skiing: “we have downhillers, cross country, snowboarders and snowshoers,” Sarason said.

In Bellingham, one local nonprofit is leading the way for adaptive and inclusive sports access in Whatcom County, including adaptive skiing support at Mount Baker. The Adaptive and Inclusive Recreation of Whatcom County (AIROW) Project was founded in 2020 by April Katz. AIROW’s mission is to “create adaptive & inclusive recreation opportunities for individuals with disabilities.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, AIROW didn’t take off until March 2022 when they hosted an adaptive and inclusive snowshoeing event in partnership with the American Alpine Institute. In 2023, Katz partnered with the Mount Baker Ski Area to host an inclusive ski day for eight neurodivergent participants.

Katz had been striving to help bring more skiers who need adaptive equipment to the slopes, but AIROW lacked the necessary funding. “I was pushing more of the adaptive skiing, but we just didn't have any means,” she said. Mount Baker offered some adaptive ski equipment that they had, but Katz discovered it was outdated and ultimately unfit for use.

Fortunately, Katz was approached by Komo Kulshan Ski Club (KKSC), who offered to help fund an adaptive ski day. Six youth and two adult participants were able to attend the event, held at Stevens Pass Ski Resort in February 2024. “It was everything,” Katz reflected.

One participant, a man with a spinal cord injury, had loved skiing and snowboarding before his injury. However, due to limited accessibility at nearby ski areas, it had been years since he had been on the mountain. “There are no [nearby] mountains where he can just call and say, ‘Hey, I want to go skiing,’” Katz said.

For Shane Kelling, president of KKSC, it’s important to provide everyone the opportunity to participate in snowsports. “Baker doesn't offer a whole lot. So, for us, it's really important to make sure the opportunity is there, especially the adaptive program,” Kelling said. In addition to the AIROW Project, KKSC also supports inclusive programs like the Ucluelet First Nation snowboard team based out of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

The work of organizations like the High Fives Foundation, the AIROW Project and KKSC is essential to further the awareness and inclusion of adaptive sports. “A lot of people don't even know [adaptive skiing] exists, which is challenging,” Trujillo said. Skiing can be a costly sport, and for adaptive athletes who need specialized equipment and extra support, the expenses are even higher. “I think that there is access for everyone. Sometimes, you just have to be creative about it,” Trujillo said.

For Katz, the best part of her work is witnessing the joy the athletes experience. “It's the joy, it's the happiness that we see,” she said. “This population is always hindered and left out. They just never get a break. If it's from their medical bills or surgeries, it's one thing after another. […] It's the smiles that keep me and all my staff going and [help us] realize that we are making a difference.”