Independent sitskiing is impossible on Whistler Blackcomb and I want to bring awareness and change so that all adaptive athletes can have the amazing experiences that Whistler Blackcomb advertise.

Right now if you are in a wheelchair “Paralympian or new skier” and want to go sitskiing by yourself there is a big hard no whispered gently by Vail.

There is no way to get from a Vehicle in a wheelchair with a sitski and into a gondola by yourself. The same is true while on the mountain, once you’re strapped into a sitski you can’t get in or out of a gondola. There has been little to no training by Vail for adaptive sports loading on lifts and gondolas and it shows, lift operators often stand around with no clue what to do when an adaptive skier arrives and it’s not their fault.

Parking is also a massive issue for disabled people here and I’m working with the municipality to amend that.

I’ve heard from many people that they hardly see adaptive athletes anymore and they ask so many questions. There is also interest from able bodied people to give sitskiing a go, I mean why wouldn’t you, it’s awesome!

How can Vail help? At a minimum they need to provide;

•Better access for disabled people closer to the gondolas.

•Frequent training for Whistler Blackcomb staff on assisting and loading accessible equipment

•assistance getting from the snow to and from gondolas

•adaptations to lift chair design to prevent adaptive equipment catching under the chairs when loading

•free parking for disabled people and people working with disabled people

•education to give adaptive riders more room on runs

Please help me by signing the petition. I will send the results to Vail and push hard so that we can make Whistler Blackcomb friendly to everyone!