Maine Sunday Telegram - SKIING  
“Disabled Ski Patrol adapts” February 27, 2005 Matt Bell gets preferential parking at Black Mountain. Not because he is the Ski Patrol Director at the Rumford ski area, but because he is in a wheelchair, and parks in a handicap spot.  Matt is the first handicapped National Ski Patrol in the East, one of
two such skiers certified as patrollers in the country, and the only
disabled Director of Patrol. Instead of the official term “disabled,”
Matt prefers the term “adaptive.” “Everyone has to adapt, able-bodied
people have to adapt too,” said Bell.At the age of 19, Matt was paralyzed from the waist down in a snowmobile accident. His sled went airborne off an embankment at the edge of a potato field. He landed upright, bursting his Vertebrae T11 and 12, severing his spinal column and shattering his left ankle. Prior to the 1999 accident, Matt had been a skier, starting at the age of four in his hometown of Presque Isle. “They didn’t sugar coat my rehab,” said Bell, who spent two months in the hospital, and several intervals of intense rehab at Philadelphia Shriners’ Hospital. “I had to adapt,” said Bell. “I worked really hard, going to the gym, swimming and kayaking, to develop my strength and balance after such a fresh injury. I got back into skiing a year later. It was nerve racking at first, but I am very stubborn and competitive.” How does a paraplegic, in a wheelchair, function as a ski patrol? “Obviously riding the T-Bar is a problem, and I don’t pull toboggans,” said Bell with a humorous smile. “I am very proficient on my sitski (a wheelchair adaptation with a single ski mount, and outrigger poles for steering), I can be first on the scene and do the initial assessment, I am fully trained in First Aid. There is a lot of paperwork too, which I can’t avoid.” As Ski Patrol Director at Black Mountain, Matt manages 20 volunteer patrollers. Trinket Fegola, a volunteer ski patrol at Black, said, “You don’t even notice that Matt has a disability. We don’t treat him any differently. If anything, we kid him. He has a wonderful attitude and a lot of courage; he has obviously been through a lot. When people see him ski, they are amazed.” Bell said, “People will see me in my wheelchair or in my sitski in the lift line and look at me with sympathy. They think ‘oh look at him, isn’t that nice.’ Then they see me ski. There is a lot of ignorance. Some people think I am a Special Olympian, but when I ski better than they do, I think I educate them a little.” Terrie Anne Bennett, Black Mountain’s General Manager, said, “Matt is a great leader for the patrol and a great role model in the community. He can talk to people on the slopes about safety and they listen.” Bennett, also Matt’s race coach, previously was Director of Maine Handicapped Skiing at Sunday River. Matt is training to compete in the 2006 Paralympics in Torino, Italy. He is currently racing in Winter Park,Colorado, with the top disabled men. Last winter was Matt’s first season of racing in his sitski at the national and international level. He placed fourth in Super G and Slalom at the Eastern Regionals at Waterville Valley, behind three U.S. Disabled Ski Team members, and qualified for the nationals at Vail. Matt has also worked at Sunday River as a Perfect Turn Coach teaching able-bodied skiers, volunteered at Maine Handicapped Skiing, and plans to become a certified professional ski instructor this year, in addition to his racing schedule in both the able-bodied and disabled circuits. Bennett said, “Matt’s drive and dedication to the sport is fantastic. He’s going to school, working as patrol director, giving motivational speeches, and training for the Olympics. He wants to give back, by showing people what can be accomplished.” Matt Bell, now 24, reflects on his life-altering accident and has even resumed snowmobiling. “I still snowmobile, it wasn’t the sled’s fault. I was a 19-year-old male in a motor vehicle accident, your typical spinal cord injury statistic.” Anyone who witnessed Matt Bell win the Sunday River Pond Skimming event in his sit ski last season knows he’s not your average skier. There is nothing typical about Matt’s recovery, or his plans to win a Gold medal in Torino, Italy, next winter. “There are people in similar situations who haven’t done anything. But there are plenty of able-bodied people who just sit on the couch too,” said Bell. “I guess it’s your personality and what you want out of life.” “Staying busy plays a huge role, with training, skiing, and working,” said Bell. “The more active you are, the stronger you become. It is easy to get down in my situation; I don’t let myself have that down time.” To follow his pursuit of gold or watch Matt’s pond-skimming victory, go to www.mattbell.us February 20, 2005  Mother Nature certainly has delivered snow for kids to play in this
February vacation. Matt Zidle, WMTW Meteorologist, said, “We have much
more snow than last year, and the forecast going into vacation week
looks good, with modified cold, not the arctic air of January, and no
severe warming in sight either.”Not only do Maine ski resorts have excellent snow conditions, they also cue up a full roster of on slope activities during this important school holiday. Here is a week’s worth of winter fun. I dare you to try and hit all the highlights in high country. Mount Abram has “boredom busters” scheduled all weeklong for kids and parents. Kicking of the craziness, Monday is Mount Abram’s annual Cardboard Boxsled race. The family-oriented ski area encourages ingenuity and recycling with prizes given for the fastest box to slide down the hill and also for the most original design and theme. Participants are instructed to use cardboard and duct tape. Sugarloaf is wide-open with superb conditions for the Presidents’ holiday. Furry friends Amos the Moose and Blueberry Bear promise to be out and about visiting vacationing kids. Families should definitely ski the Moose Alley trail that leads to Amos’ cabin in the woods. Tuesday night at the Loaf is Festival night; parents can have a night out listening to the sounds of the 60’s by the seven-piece band, Harmony Station. Wednesday is Family Fun Day at Saddleback, where kids and parents can participate in snow games and events throughout the day, plus live entertainment après ski. Shawnee Peak will host their 18th annual Family Day on Thursday from 10am – 2pm with a DJ playing music and a family feud race in which parents and kids can race in a dual slalom course. Kids get a head start and the first to the finish wins a prize (and obvious bragging rights). Also part of the family festivities, Shawnee Peak provides piles of snow for the 3rd annual snow sculpture contest with a theme of “under the sea.” Bring your own snow shovel and tools – and your imagination. Other activities throughout the day include a snowy tug of war and an on-mountain scavenger hunt where skiers and riders must find the rubber chicken hidden on the trails. Slugger the Sea Dog is also expected to make an appearance at the Peak. Sunday River’s White Cap Family Fun Center is the place to be Thursday afternoon. You can rent tubes and slide down the twisty turny tubing runs from 5-9, or ice skate on the rink. Parents can keep tabs, and start their own tab, from the comforts of Tango Mary’s nightclub inside the White Cap Lodge. The Sunday River evening is capped off with a fireworks show at 8:20pm. Saddleback also lights up the night on Thursday with their Ski Patrol's Torchlight Parade followed by a spaghetti dinner and entertainment in the Swig and Smelt Lounge. Friday, Saddleback hosts a Slide and Ride Event sponsored by Sobe – the official beverage choice of Bode Miller. On snow games in the terrain park are planned, and prizes will be given. Next weekend, Sunday River will host the 3rd Annual Maine Telemark Festival, Feb. 26-27 with free clinics and equipment demonstrations. Alongside the Telemark event will be the first-ever Eastern Halfpipe and Slopestyle Telemark Championship, free-healed contestants will perform on rails, jumps, and in the pipe for cash and prizes of gear. Saturday night, Lost Valley will be the sight for jibbing and jamming for juniors. The Destoy Jib Jam Competition will take place in Lost Valleys’ WILD Rail Garden Terrain Park with music and prizes for participants. Eaton Mountain, Camden Snow Bowl, and Titcomb will extend their hours of operation during vacation week. Black Mountain will also be open everyday of vacation week, with night skiing till 9pm Wed.-Sat., and snow tubing under the lights Thurs.-Sat.12pm-9pm. Titcomb has planned special activities during the vacation week including a bonfire and Torchlight Parade, plus the ever-popular Radar Race where you can clock your downhill speed with an official police radar gun. Okay, that may be too many events to attend in one week. Just be sure to get out with the kids and make this February vacation a special time in the snow. When I got the phone call from my husband last week that he had blown out his knee while skiing, I felt his pain in the depth of my soul. If there is anyone who loves to ski more than I do, it is Greg. It is what we do, what we have done since we were shorter than a ski pole. His much-anticipated trip to Utah with his father and two brothers, to celebrate their Dad’s 70th birthday, had ended abruptly with a season-ending crash, a dislocated knee, fractured tibia, torn ACL, MCL, medial and lateral meniscus. Friends asked Greg, “Did you hear a pop?” Too many skiers are asked this question; most apparently answer “yes.” The pop is apparently the sensation when a ligament gives out. Greg says he did not hear the much-lamented pop. He says it all happened too fast, more like an implosion, but instantly he knew his knee was gone.  For
four decades, Greg has skied some of the most amazing terrain in the
country, and Europe too. For the last two decades, we have shared
those turns, down early morning cruisers, sensational steeps and the
occasional deep. We have plied skinny chutes and glided wide-open
bowls. We had experienced innumerable happy and healthy days on the
slopes. When I got the call, I knew instantly our skiing career had
taken a sharp turn. Being in the ski biz, and having written articles about skier safety for about ten years, I knew the risks. I was all too familiar that the ACL (anterior crucial ligament) is the most common injury among skiers, as many as 50,000 are reported each year. I had attended ski seminars in which injury rates were discussed enough to make anyone’s knees weak. In a twenty-year study at Sugarbush Ski Area in Vermont, Dr. Robert Johnson, Dr. Jasper Shealy, and Carl Ettinger concluded that 75% of all ski injuries involved the ACL. In fact, Shealy concluded that a skier’s chance of ACL injury is on par with that of a college football player, roughly 365 times greater than the general public. Now that high-stake gamble was ours, not to read about or talk about – but to live with and deal with. Talk about a crapshoot – the dice rolled away from us this time. Many of our ski friends have experienced knee surgery. From them, we learned that some of the best orthopedic surgeons in the country practice right here in Portland, doctors who have reconstructed members of the US Ski Team, doctors who work specifically on sports-related knee injuries. And indeed, the highly accomplished sports medicine team at Orthopaedic Associates of Portland put my husband back together again (just like Humpty Dumpty), with the powerfully reassuring words that he will ski again, next year. With every life experience, each incident, and in this case – accident, we gain insight and appreciation for things we had assumed or just taken for granted in the past. It is amazing how valuable, how cherished something becomes when it is taken away, or even threatened. The thought of not skiing was an unspoken fear in those initial days. It is what we do on weekends, what we look forward to. With this fresh prospective comes an intense respect for the human body and for all that we are able to accomplish when we are strong and healthy. The human knee alone is a fantastically complex system that allows us to carve corduroy, bash the bumps and tuck the flats. Of course, the modern reality that physicians can reconstruct this magical mechanism is also incredible. On that note, I have discovered that there is a staggering (pardon the pun) number of skiers who have been through this healing process, who have endured surgery, followed by countless hours of physical therapy to rehabilitate their legs – all to ski again. And the success rate is decidedly positive, including complete knee replacements for individuals who go on to ski into their 80’s and 90’s. It is amazing what a powerful motivator one’s affection for alpine sports can be. Which brings me to my conclusion that skiers are indeed passionate, perhaps even a bit neurotic. Skiing is a sport unlike any other, combining athletic strength, spectacular scenery, close camaraderie and the sensation of gravity inviting you down a snow-covered slope. We will ski together again, me and my forever ski companion. Perhaps we will measure our ski days differently for a while, not in vertical feet accumulated on the altimeter, but simply in precious moments on the hill. February 6, 2005 I think skiing is romantic. Not everyone does. And not all guys (sorry gentlemen, this is from a female perspective) get the romance angle of skiing, more prone to charging down the hill and back up the lift repeatedly.  Guys, you have an opportunity next Valentine’s weekend (post football
– time to step away from the TV) to show your loved one how
wonderfully warm and fuzzy this winter sport can be. I am the first to admit that not all aspects of the outdoor downhill activity are romantic (read: cold, steep, difficult). There is no dreamy delight in frozen ski boot buckles, falling or frostbite. The key to a tryst on the trails is preventing the chill or shrill from setting in. There are some very precious moments that can only happen on a snow-covered mountain. The mere invitation of a romantic ski rendezvous should give your sweetheart something to sing about. The anticipation of heading to the slopes mono a mono is part of the potion. Checking the forecast and expressing concern that your snow date will be bundled and outfitted properly should score early points. Buying disposable hand and foot warmers is downright heroic (and only about $2 a pair). Next there is the commute to the slopes. Coffee, fresh pastries, ideally heated seats, make a chivalric “pick up.” Carrying skis and buckling your date’s boots, while a thoughtful gesture, depends largely on the make up of your friend. My brother in law still buckles his wife’s ski boots after 15 years of marriage, so he obviously set that pampering precedent on a first ski date. Be aware, some women may not dig this level of gallantry – myself included. I like to be cared for, but I am not incapacitated. During those long chairlift rides, you have captured quality time together. Here is your chance to snuggle close in the fresh air and discuss offbeat but revealing topics. Then you have your ski run to contemplate your next move. There is nothing corny about appreciating the scenery along the way either. Braving the elements together, taking in the mountain vistas through each other’s eyes is especially tender.  As for the downhill portion of the date, be sure you ski terrain that
is comfortable for both of you. Reducing your ski partner to tears or
humiliation is no way to her (or his) heart. Ego-pleasing terrain
makes you both look and feel best. Only if you are both accomplished
and eager to tackle the steep gnarly black diamonds should you point
your boards to the expert runs to get your hearts pumping in tandem.
As one Perfect Turn coach at Sugarloaf told me, “Boyfriends who take
their girls down terrain they aren’t comfortable skiing should be
shot.” That is a bit extreme, but I believe it underscores the point.Back to the romance of the day, one clever Cupid wrote his proposal in the snow last Valentine’s at Sunday River, a big red message displayed under the Barker lift so his bride-to-be was sure to see it. Who could say no to such a sentimental spray painted “Will you marry me?” Take time to break for hot chocolate (known for its aphrodisiac powers). Make lunch a table for two, ideally a sit-down beyond the clamoring cafeteria. I think Gepettos and The Bag at Sugarloaf are celebratory spots. Follow that with dinner at Hugs, it even sounds romantic. Après ski is notorious for hot toddies and hot tubs. Both qualify as excellent post-mountain mood enhancers. Sitting by a roaring fire and recounting the day’s highlights is the perfect ending to your outdoor adventure. Slopeside lodging is prime location if you share a passion for first chair and first tracks. Sunday River and Sugarloaf are both offering Valentine lodging and lift ticket packages with massages for two, chocolates and flowers. If a more leisurely morning with gourmet breakfast is your preference, a ski town Inn or B&B is an inspired Valentine venue. Cross-country skiing, even snowshoeing, can be engaging outdoor pursuits for couples. While these lack the adrenaline rush of downhill schussing, you can transport one another to a nature bound, secluded setting, dreamy. Pack a picnic and a ring in your pocket to add excitement to these sideways sports. Regardless of where you go, spending time together in the powdery snow is a positive way to get to know each other better, renew an extinguished flame, or even pop the question in a fantastic fashion. Haven’t you heard the saying “the couple that skis together, stays together”? Perhaps I have made it up – but it sounds good. Get out and share the love of skiing with the one you love.
|
