Jasper gets sit-skis for disabled skiers

When teacher Kim Wallace saw one of her students sitting in the chalet while his friends carved up the ski hill, she decided to do something about it.

The student was Steven Saunders, a youngster whose muscular dystrophy kept him off the slopes. 

“During my first year of teaching, Steven sat inside during the three ski days while everyone else skied,” said Wallace, who teaches at École Desrochers. “I wanted to make sure that would never happen again.”

Nearly three years and $18,000 in fundraising later, Jasper has two sit-skis of its own to allow community members with disabilities to take on the runs at Marmot Basin. A sit-ski is an adaptive device made of a molded seat mounted on two ski blades that allows those with injuries or disabilities to ski in a sitting position.

“This is something, even if he had wanted to, he wouldn’t have been able to do,” Wallace said. “It made me realize how much we take for granted.”

Steven, who got out on the hills last year using a borrowed sit-ski, said he looks forward to the experience again. “I liked being with my friends because other years I’d just stay home,” he said. “And I liked going fast – really fast.”

The sit-skis, purchased by a local collaborative working group, are available to anyone who could get good use out of them. “The community paid for them,” Wallace said. “Without the community support, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Marmot Basin donated storage space at the resort for the devices, as well as the Level 1 ski instructor training for strong skiers interested in volunteering to assist sit-skiers on the hill. Training will take place at the end of November.

Those interested in volunteering or anyone who could make use of a sit-ski should contact Wallace at École Desrochers, at -780-852-1119.