[nabs-l] Has anybody skied before?

[Mark J. Cadigan]

Hi Sami,



I go skiing about once a year, and have been doing so since I was little. It's 
quite doable as a blind person. Lets first start off by saying skiing is to 
sledding like a gold fish is to a shark. They both swim in water, but the 
similarities stop there.



In skiing, the slope is significantly larger than the hills you go sledding 
on. You have to take a lift to the top of the hill, navigate to the start of 
the trail, ski down the hill and avoid all the trees and other people. The 
trails are often narrow and windy, and you have to ski in a serpentine line 
to keep from building up uncontrollable speed.



You may be thinking, how a blind person can do this, well, it's simple. Many 
mountains offer an adaptive skiing program. In this program, they will pare 
you with a guide who will be in constant communication with you, and follow 
behind you and tell you when to turn, stop, ETC.



I like the Vermont adaptive program myself, and have gone with this program 
for years. Good luck with this new winter sport.



Mark



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sami Osborne via nabs-l" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 2:23 PM
Subject: [nabs-l] Has anybody skied before?


> Hi all,
>
> So I have a question about your experiences as blind students and I hope 
> you can answer.
>
> Today, my mom and my younger brother (who is sighted) are going out 
> skiing.  We've never actually done it before as a family, so I was looking 
> forward to trying something new (my mom has done it before back in France, 
> and my brother did it last month on a school field trip).  But today my 
> mom told me that she'd love that I come with them, but that skiing 
> requires a fair amount of vision.  She thinks I can learn, but that 
> neither she, my dad, or my brother is sufficiently good enough at it to 
> teach me how (as a blind person,) and I would therefore need a specialized 
> instructor.
> While I was of course pretty disappointed, I could also see the confidence 
> that my mom had that I can ski if I get the proper instruction (both my 
> parents have high expectations for me and my brother).
>
> So I'd like to know if any of you guys have gone skiing before and how 
> your experiences were.  Did you manage without vision, and did you learn 
> from your family, friends or a special instructor?
> Also, how different is skiing from sledding in terms of requiring the use 
> of vision?
> Just to let you know, we go sledding every winter, and I am able to sled 
> down the hill and walk back up without any problems with vision or sighted 
> assistance (where we go sledding, the hill is just a straight line, so 
> it's relatively easy to walk up once I slide down).
>
> I look forward to hearing about all your experiences and try something new 
> with my family eventually.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sami.
>
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