Finding Comfortable

The Winter Sports Clinic took place this year in Snowmass, CO. It is a gathering of over 400 injured servicemen and women. The injuries range from amputated limbs, traumatic brain injuries, to blindness. They come to this clinic to learn to ski, snowboard and participate in other mountain activities. The idea being they can still achieve great things no matter the injury.

Michael (The DP) and I arrived Saturday ready to film this extraordinary event. I was nervous before before we got there because I had never been around that many injured people before. I was afraid I would stare or be uncomfortable or end up saying something inappropriate. I was basically afraid of what I didn't know. 

We went to registration to find Jerry Cortinas one of the people we were filming. In the registration hall I was struck by the number of wheelchairs waiting in line. If I was going to be nervous it was going to be here. We found Jerry and quickly threw ourselves into following him. As we watched him sign up for snowboarding I found myself chatting with other people. One young guy was newly injured from Iraq. I could see the defeat in his eyes. The organizer told me to look for him at the end of the week; she was sure he would have a different expression. I met a young female paratrooper that was learning to walk again after her shoot didn't open during a training exercise in North Carolina (yes, it is amazing she survived). She was all smiles and definitely lit up the room. I kept meeting people that had incredible stories of survival and recovery. I quickly realized they weren't uncomfortable so neither was I. Sure, sometimes I stared and other times I felt emotional, but most of the time I was in awe.  It is hard not to be whe you see a double amputee walking on his prosthetics holding a snowboard. Apparently that guy can really shred (that's me using the snowboard lingo I picked up :)

Then a surprise came along. After the first couple of days of filming, one of the event directors wallked over to me and asked, "Have you ever bucket skied?"

"No," I said. "I can't ski at all." She quickly informed me that I was about to learn. She explained to me that the bucket ski is what those who have leg injuries ski with. She explained that they would strap me into a bucket, send me off with an instructor, and I would have to learn to use my arms to ski. "We want you to feel what it is like to not use your legs," she said. Without thinking, I hastily replied, "I'm in!" She left and I cringed. You see I am afraid of heights. Which means I hate ski lifts and I had a feeling I would hate them even more while sitting in a bucket.

Turns out I was wrong....but more on that later.