Skiing Mont-Tremblant

By Hélèna Katz

It was while standing at the top of the bunny slope at Mont-Tremblant waiting to ski down that I decided I must not be thinking straight. How else could I explain that I was about to slide down a hill when my eyesight was so bad that the human pylons weaving their way down to the bottom looked like little black ants on skis?

I was born with a severe visual disability and can’t see clearly for more than a few feet in front of me. Although that hasn’t stopped me from much -- dogsledding was a hoot, gymnastics was fun and I loved the gliding sensation of figure skating -- I never imagined myself trying to downhill ski. My usual comment was that if I ever tried it, I would be sliding down the hill out-of-control, exercising my lungs instead of my legs.

When I finally tried skiing on a trip to Mont-Tremblant in Quebec’s Laurentian Mountains last February, I was surprised to discover that lack of eyesight was no barrier. The instructor of our little group of four reporters (the others were fully sighted) knew just how to instruct and guide me down the hill.

At most Canadian ski resorts, people with disabilities must come as part of a group or club to use the facilities. Mont-Tremblant is one of the few places where certified instructors and volunteer guides are available through the ski school to teach people with visual disabilities, quadriplegia or paraplegia. Last year Mont-Tremblant instructors gave more than 400 hours of lessons to skiers with disabilities, as part of its "Mountain for All" program.

"It’s a more integrated approach," program director Robert Dostie says. "People with disabilities can come seven days a week instead of only on weekends or special days." The school also rents out specialized equipment that is adapted for nearly everyone, says Dostie. Tremblant began buying equipment about four years ago and tries to buy more each year.

Skiers with visual disabilities are visible on the slopes by their bright-coloured jackets and sometimes use ropes or poles with instructors taking the lead. Other equipment includes sit-skis, a seat mounted on a frame with a suspension system and skis. People with paraplegia can use outriggers, tiny crutches with skis on them, to initiate turns, keep balance and load themselves on the chairlift.

The school also has about eight instructors certified by the British Columbia-based Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing and half a dozen certified volunteers. "There is no shortage of people wanting to learn to work with skiers with disabilities," says Dostie, who offers instructor certification courses at his school.

He was getting bored with teaching able-bodied skiers about 15 years ago. "(Teaching)people who are blind can be mentally demanding whereas skiers who are para- and quadriplegic are physically demanding," he says. But he enjoys the challenge. "I find it extremely rewarding to see someone learn to slide down a hill and by turning... get a feeling of freedom, of adventure, of being outside." Like me, the majority of people with disabilities coming to Mont-Tremulant for the first time have never skied before. "People who come here, we teach them to ski and we train their family and friends as well so that they can go out with them and they can go anywhere else," Dostie boasts.

Teaching methods that instructors use with skiers with disabilities are often similar to the ones they use with beginners, although perhaps more detailed. First-timers are surprisingly not as nervous about their introduction to skiing as are their able-bodied counterparts, Dostie observes. "They put their complete trust in us."

I certainly did when I followed my instructor, Jean-Patrick Mascon, down the hill. I initially followed the red blob who was yelling "right" and then "left" at me. Mascon, who has been at Tremulant for six years, took a course about 20 years ago with instructors from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

"The idea was to learn how to give people a basic feel for skiing, so we had to go down the hill blindfolded with a guide," Mascon recalls. "Once you ve been blindfolded, you have a feeling for skiing."

He learned to teach using descriptions of how different body parts feel. "It’s mostly, to me, a sport of sensations, exhilaration and freedom. And then there’s the titillating aspects like speed," he says. "You feel the sun, wind and air. That’s why people with visual disabilities do it."

Before hitting the slopes, people with disabilities speak to Dostie so that they can determine their needs, reserve the necessary equipment ahead of time and assign an instructor or book a volunteer guide. During a two-hour basic ski lesson, students are shown how to use the equipment they will need.

Dostie says he isn’t surprised that people with disabilities can ski. What does surprise him is how little known it is, although that is slowly changing thanks to increasing visibility of the sport and better equipment. "Ten years ago we did’t have sit- skis. We had glorified toboggans that you could’t steer properly."

There are also more instructors who have been trained to work with people with disabilities. Mascon wants me to come back so that he can take me to the top of the mountain and ski down with me -- a distance of four miles. "When you get good at it, I’d like to take you on a big hill, and put a (coloured) jacket on you. I’ll have a whistle and we’ll work out one pip to turn right, two pips to turn left and three pips to stop," Mascon said to me after my lesson. Uh, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll think about it.

Hellene Kat is a freelance writer living in Montréal, Québec.

RESOURCES:

Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing A volunteer based organization that promotes skiing for people with disabilities. Website:http://www.disabledskiing.ca Tel: (250) 427-7712

Ontario Track 3 Ski Association
A volunteer and non-profit organization that teaches children and youth with disabilities to ski. Also has information about grants for accessible ski chalets. Website: http://www.track3.org Tel: (416) 233-3872 Disabled Skiers Alberta Tel: (780) 427-810