The 2015-2016 ski season has concluded and it was a stellar winter for the Vancouver Island Society for Adaptive Snow Sports race program.
This year five skiers and three snowboarders came out for weekly clinics to improve their technique, practice gates and make great turns in the powder.
Don Nesbitt, sitskier with the team, managed to get bring home bronze medals in giant slalom and Super G at an event in Whistler in January. Don was invited recently to ski at Revelstoke for more training through the LIVE IT! LOVE IT! Foundation.
Congratulations goes out to alumna racer Melissa Pemble, who had an amazing season on the BC Para Alpine team Canadian Nationals with silver and two bronze finishes at the Canadian Para Alpine Championships to add to a season of hauling in the hardware.
The team trains each year and tries to attend at least one race off the Island but this year travel distances led to a decision to stay on our home mountain for a weekend in February. This gave us a chance to go night skiing, a first for some of our team members. Of course, being 2016, there was more powder waiting for us on Sunday morning.
Team co-ordinator Jen Bowlby thanks Mount Washington Alpine Resort for all their support and thanks to Big Red Chalet and Thrifty Foods for donating funds towards our weekend.
Families of the racers provide so much support throughout the season and so thank you all for bringing these racers up all winter long; Liam Wigger, Andrew Miles, Joe Grubwieser, Nathan Hole, Bridge Warwick. Special thanks to Ron Greenhorne and Bazz Petropolis for making the long trek from Nanaimo and Duncan almost weekly.
For anyone who may qualify as an adaptive skier or snowboarder through the BC Adaptive Snowsports membership, consider contacting our instructors and find out if ski and snowboard improvement and even racing would be right for you. Check us out at visasweb.ca/indexx.php and visit our VISAS Facebook page and on Flickr.