Dan Cnossen Skis in Massachusetts

Lucky me! I recently met Dan Cnossen, a Paralympic Nordic skier and biathlete who has been skiing at the Leo J. Martin Ski Track near Boston this winter.

As our Universal Access Program has started up for the season on site, I've been noticing Dan circling the course as I assist with program set up. It is wonderful to witness a Paralympic athlete moving with such power and grace mixed in with the usual Sunday crowd - families, couples, individuals, and young adults with autism who have been making up the bulk of our program so far. For further information on adaptive skiing opportunities at the Leo J. Martin Ski Track in Weston see the end of this post.

Dan's recent history is easy to convey in a few words: Navy Seal. Lt. Commander. Purple Heart. Bronze Star. Sochi Winter Paralympics. Dan lost his lower legs in Afghanistan in 2009 but this didn't slow down his forward momentum for long. Previously based in Colorado where he has continued to work with the Seals as well as train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Dan is in Massachusetts working on a masters degree and making the most out of local snow.

Catch the Sochi Paralympics! Join a Paralympic Sport Club!

Brenda Davies teaches the fundamentals
of turning on a sitski at the Weston Ski Track.

Today is Day 7 of the 10 day Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. The host country is far ahead of the international pack of 45 competing countries with 50 medals, 18 of them gold. The U.S. had 8 medals so far, 4 silver and 4 bronze, thanks to wonderful ski performances in challenging conditions . The US sled hockey team, undefeated in the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics, will fight Russia for the gold medal on March 15.

Don't miss the Winter Paralympics! They are in progress through March 16. Media attention on this spectacular event is more extensive than ever before! You can view great daily coverage on NBCSN, YouTube Paralympic TV, and even On Demand if you get NBCSN. Like U.S. Paralympics on facebook for updates, stories and images. Catch video clips of Team USA here.

Adaptive Bocce in Massachusetts

The Italian game of bocce is a fun, versatile and inexpensive sport that can be adapted for play by people with disabilities. Long known as an intergenerational pastime in Italian communities, it is especially favored by older men as a way to enjoy long afternoons. Bocce can be played anywhere balls can be rolled out on flat ground or on standardized courts. Official rules can be simplified for easy play with kids. A set of bocce balls can be purchased for as little as $25.

This year I've been exploring ways to play bocce and how it can be adapted for people of all abilities. I took a bag of the eight colorful and hard bocce balls and the small white one known as a jack to my neighborhood swimming pool and initiated informal games on the lawn, where curious kids jumped in to play. I also played it with friends indoors seated on a large rug which defined our court. If you haven't played bocce it is definitely worth getting to know this game! 

Cindy Walker's Paralympic Journey Towards Rio

Photo courtesy of U.S. Sailing.

I met Cindy Walker when she came to one of our ice skating programs last year and have been marveling at her journey ever since. 

Thanks Cindy for your Guest Post on what it is like to train as a Paralympic athlete! 

Best of luck on your way to Rio! 

Readers can support Cindy's journey at www.Teamporteouswalker.org

      Sailing for me started as a hobby and has become a passion. In my eyes sailing is one of the only sports where everyone, can take part, unless you’re afraid of the water.  I have truly become a sailor at heart. Whether I’m racing or on the water with my family and friends I’m at peace. 

The first thing that comes to mind about being a Paralympic sailor might be sacrifice, but at the end of the day I whole heartedly enjoy what I do, so in hindsight I’m not sacrificing anything because there isn’t anything I’d rather be doing with my life. I am on the “Road to Rio” aka, training and competing for the next 3 years in the hopes of representing the U.S. at the 2016 summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

Time to Follow the London Paralympics!

The Summer Olympics have come and gone with their usual high profile coverage in the past month. I find the Olympics always fascinating to follow - and how great it was to see so many ads showing Paralympic athletes along with Olympic athletes!

Now, on the eve of the London Paralympics, it has become evident that these will be the biggest Paralympics ever, with over 4000 athletes competing from 160 countries. Almost 2.5 million tickets have been sold already, a likely indicator of a first time sell-out in Paralympic history. Media coverage will be greater than for previous Paralympics and offered in more countries than ever before.

Beginning on Aug. 29 and continuing through the conclusion of the Games on Sept. 9, U.S. Paralympics will provide 10 daily video highlights packages via its U.S. Paralympics YouTube channel. The videos will chronicle the competition, athlete stories and will also include the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Videos chronicling the lead-up to the Games are also be available now.

In addition to the online content, NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will air one-hour highlight shows on Sept. 4, 5, 6 and 11 at 7 p.m. EDT. Following the Paralympic Games, on Sept. 16, NBC will broadcast a 90 minute special from 2-3:30 p.m. EDT. All NBC and NBC Sports Network Paralympic highlight shows and specials will re-air on Universal Sports Network and UniversalSports.com.

The IPC, the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement, also recently announced its online coverage plans for the 2012 Paralympic Games, which will include broadcasting 580 hours of live sport from London 2012 on Paralympic.org during the competition.

Some of the athletes I will be following include:

Victoria Arlen of Exeter, NH, a 17 year old swimmer with Transverse Myelitis who broke 2 world records and 10 Pan American and American records at the U.S. Paralympic Trials in Bismarck, ND, this June.

Blake Leeper of Nashville, TN, a 22 year old blade runner who has tied Olympian Oscar Pistorius's world record of 10.91 seconds in the 100m T43 and will be running against him in what may be the most popular event of the 2012 Paralympics.

Anjali Forber-Pratt of Natick, MA, an avid wheelchair racer and eloquent Paralympic ambassador I met last year who has broken all kinds of records and will be competing in her 2nd Paralympics.

Who are your favorite Paralympians???

Paralympic Media Coverage!

In a few days, 600 athletes from 40 countries will begin competition in 5 winter Paralympic sports. The Paralympics always follow the Olympics in the same venue. The Olympics get lots of TV coverage, the Paralympics follow almost unnoticed in mainstream media.

One of the reasons I started this blog is because there is so little media coverage of adaptive recreation and sports on all levels - even the most elite athletes in disabled sports are often little known outside the disable sports world. Nonetheless, the Paralympics will get some television coverage this month, and while TV pales in comparison, the internet offers more options now than ever.

NBC Sports and Universal Sports just announced their coverage this week. NBC will recap the opening ceremony for one hour on Saturday March 13 from 1-2pm ET. After the Games are over, on Saturday, April 10 from 3-5pm ET highlights from all sports will be shown.

UniversalSports will show 2 hours of coverage nightly at 6pm and 11pm ET starting Monday, March 15 through Tuesday, March 23. There will also be on demand selections, including entire event "rewinds" on UniversalSports.com.

You can also check out daily updates and videos at http://www.usparalympics.org/, the Team USA website, and http://www.paralympicsport.tv/.

Along with the outdoor competition of downhill skiing, nordic skiing, and biathlon, be sure to watch get a view of the indoor sports - sled hockey and wheelchair curling, both growing sports.

I found curling fascinating in the Winter Olympics. In wheelchair curling, there is no sweeping and a throwing stick is used to send the stone down the ice. It is quite the mesmerizing game of skill and strategy and Canada is the team to beat this time.

Team USA will attempt to reclaim the gold in sled hockey, after winning gold in Salt Lake City in 2002, then being unable to follow suit in Torino in 2006. Sled hockey has been an official Paralympic sport since 1994 so more teams have had a chance to develop their competitive edge. Its fast and furious, so don't miss out!

Winter Paralympics - Watch for Tyler Walker

I recently caught a glimpse of the Winter X Games on TV. The event being shown involved downhill skiing - backwards - and a big jump with a lot of aerial acrobatics including the crossing of skis while upside down - then a backwards landing and continuation of skiing downhill - did I say backwards? - to the finish. The whole thing put the Winter Olympics to shame. Now I understand why the Olympics are adding events like snowboarding with its death defying half pipe event. There is a new revolution going on fueled by a youth culture of daredevil antics. Not being a downhill skier, it took me awhile to catch on.

And I wondered, is there an adaptive version of this?

The answer is yes, although I don't think the backwards event above is happening yet on adaptive skis. At the recent Winter X-Games 14 in Aspen, Colorado, a New Hampshire native, Tyler Walker, took the gold medal in Monoskier-X. This is a competitive race of four individuals over a downhill course fraught with curves and jumps. These cross races are popular in snowboarding and downhill skiing now and are recent additions to the Winter Olympics (though not the Paralympics -yet). It's not just about speed, its about skill and ability to stay upright and in motion in relation to three other competitors flying down the mountain.

Tyler Walker, now 23 years old, was born with very little spine. Both legs were amputated at age four. Despite great excuses to never consider becoming an athlete, he began downhill skiing in adaptive programs in high school. Tyler graduated from the University of New Hampshire recently with a dual major in International Studies and Geography. His academic pursuits tie in nicely with his current endeavors as a skier traveling a world circuit. You can watch Monoskier-X and Tyler's gold medal win on video at his website http://tylerwalker.org/. His entertaining blog also provides a glimpse of the life and travels of a champion adaptive athlete.

Tyler also competes in slalom and giant-slalom. He won the World Cup Championship in downhill last August at the World Cup Finals in Whistler, British Columbia. Watch for news of him at the Winter Paralympics next month where he will compete on the same mountain. He is a favorite to win. Check him out on YouTube as a child on home-made adaptive skis and training for Vancouver at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLE0s_GrI7E

The Paralympics are Coming!

We always hear about the Olympics in mainstream media well before they arrive. For weeks, coverage of Olympic events dominates evening television. Unless we are paying careful attention, the Paralympics might slip by unnoticed, especially since they are separated from the Olympics and follow behind them at the Olympics venue. Dedicated Paralympic fans get their news online and might take advantage of whatever tiny amount of television coverage takes place, usually after the games. You can click on the links in the sidebar here to find online coverage. The following is a little primer to get you started.

The Paralympics started in 1960 and have been going strong ever since. This year's Winter Paralympics are from March 21-21 in Vancouver and feature 5 main sports: alpine skiing, nordic skiing, sled hockey, wheelchair curling, and biathlon. Alpine events are the downhill, slalom, giant slalom, and super giant slalom, same as with the Olympics. Nordic skiing features races of different distances and the biathlon, into which shooting at targets is integrated. Skiers compete in three categories: standing, seated, and blind. Sled hockey, played on seated ice skates, is every bit as intense as conventional hockey. Wheelchair curling made its debut in the last Paralympics and is a fascinating competition of aim and technique.

While not all these sports take place in the outdoors, subsequent posts will delve into each one. The real stories are the athletes themselves of course. Each one has a unique journey to the Paralympics. Stephanie Victor, pictured above, is the force to be reckoned with in the downhill events and will give Laurie Stephens from Massachusetts some fierce competition. Stay tuned!