True to form, I’ve had a go at something completely new and adventurous: skiing. And it’s safe to say, I’m loving it. My balance is appalling, so I use a sit ski which, I hasten to add, doesn’t take away from the experience at all. Not in my opinion anyway.
‘Disabled skiing’, as it is termed, is one of the sports adapted for people with disabilities by Disability Snowsports UK (DSUK). This organisation has it sussed as far as I’m concerned. If I’d told someone a few years ago that I wanted to ski they wouldn’t have believed it possible and to be honest neither
would I (actually, I probably wouldn’t have even considered it). Since being involved with iDID though, I’ve realised that ANYTHING is possible.
I’ve been skiing three times now, and each time I’ve loved every minute of it! I can feel the biggest grin on my face as I whiz down the slope, and I really do mean whiz, I go that fast. But I must pause my excitement as I’ve just realised, I’m telling you how much I love skiing and I haven’t even
mentioned the support I have in order to do it! I think this proves that the support provided in order for people to take part in these sports is so good that we don’t spend time reflecting on the specifics of how we do the sport and how it’s been adapted for us – we just go out and enjoy it, and tell other people afterwards how much fun we’re having. I will say though, that they are very well adapted and can cater for a wide range of disabilities.
The great thing about the people who support us is that they enjoy what they’re doing as much as we do. This makes the world of difference as it means that we don’t have people who aren’t quite sure what to do with us, we have people who know exactly what they’re doing and aren’t afraid to let us do as much as we can and support us so that we get the proper experience.
I ski with someone holding the back of my sit ski, strapped onto the back of it on the way up and guiding me in the right direction on the way down by turning the ski as I lean. What’s great is that I know I’m doing some of the work as well – they’re not taking me skiing, they’re skiing with me. To
me that makes a big difference. I don’t want people telling me I’m doing something when I’m really not, I want to know that I’m doing as much of it as possible myself.
My aim for now is to start learning to ski independently – it’ll take time and effort but like with everything else, I’ll give it all I’ve got! After a lot of saving (I’m a poor student) I’m also game for one of the holidays they do abroad. And who knows, I may even get on a snowboard one day with DSUK!
Jennie is part of the team working to establish and run iDID. She graduated from the Common Purpose Frontrunner Disabled Leadership Course in July, and is a student at the University of West England, Bristol. Follow this link to find her on Twitter @jdgoodrum
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