Adaptive/Sitskiiers: I need your help!

[TheHebrewHammer]

Hey y'all,

I'm a journalism student and I'm writing a feature story about adaptive waterskiiers/wakeboarders/sitskiiers. I am an able bodied rider, and my coach has been working with adaptive skiiers for 25 years. We regularly ride with a paraplegic sitskiier and a blind wakeboarder/kneeboarder, and they inspire me to push through my struggles with my own riding.

I will be working with them on the story to learn what it's like to overcome disability to pursue wakeboarding, but I would love to learn what I can from y'all as well.

Below are some of the things I want to learn about adaptive skiing/skiiers, but these questions are just suggestions. Feel free to answer any, all, or none of them. Tell me your stories, fun facts, jokes, or some things I might not know about adaptive skiing. I'd be extremely grateful for anything you're willing to contribute!

If you're not an adaptive skiier, but you know someone who is or know something about the sport, I'd love to hear from you too!

If you're willing to have your full name published, please give it. If not, that's fine too! If you'd be willing/rather to talk to me via phone/email/pm, just let me know! If you're in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area, I'd love to talk to you in person or maybe even ride with you! Thanks so much!

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1. Were you an athlete or an extreme sports athlete or a risk taker before you were disabled? How/when did you become disabled? How did this initially affect your confidence/personality/world view? Did it make you a stronger person in the long run?

2. When and how did you first hear about adaptive skiing/wakeboarding? Did you think you could do it? Who or what inspired you to try? How hard was it to learn? Did anyone teach you?

3. What gets you out on the water? What’s fun about skiing/wakeboarding? What does it feel like to ride a sitski/do what you do?

4. What is the name you use for what you do? Adaptive skiing? Sit skiing? Wakeboarding? Is there a difference or a correct term?

5. What can you tell me about your equipment? Is it custom made? Where did you get it? What are some of the good/bad things about it? Is it comfortable? How could it be made better?

6. What are some of the unique challenges about adaptive skiing or personal challenges that you face? What are some of the pains you have to fight through on a regular basis? Have you ever been injured skiing/wakeboarding? Have you ever doubted yourself or wanted to quit? How did you find the strength to keep going?

7. What do your doctors think of what you're doing? What about your family and friends?

8. Do you have any other adaptive skiers who you regularly ride with? Are you involved in any local/national adaptive skiing communities or organizations? Have you taught any of your friends to do what you do?

9. Have you progressed from sitskiing to something else, like kneeboarding? Do you hope to?

10. What are your goals for the future? Where do you see yourself as a skier/as a person x number of years from now? Are there competitions in adaptive skiing? Do you aspire to compete?

11. What about the future of adaptive skiing? How would you like to see the sport grow/change?

12. Got any funny stories?

13. Is there anything else I should know about adaptive skiing/skiiers?

[TheHebrewHammer]

bump

[speedLINER]

Hey man! Nice to see somebody trying to get the word out about Adaptive skiing. It's such a blast and it feels great to be able to hang with my boys and ride with them. I would love to answer your questions or any others you have. We actually just finished a Wakeboard contest here in North Carolina that featured some adaptive skiing. The WWA/INT has adopted a new division called the Extremities Division and it has allowed me to push the League's and Events in this area to allow us to ride and compete with everyone else!
I'm not in the St. Pete area but I do know of an organization called UCanSki2 is in that area and have been teaching for YEARS!!!
Anyway, on to your questions.....

1) I was and still am an adrenaline junkie! I was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident in 2006 where a lady pulled out in front of me while driving through rush hour traffic. Before this I had raced anything with a motor. I started out racing go-carts when I was 7 until 13. I took a break from go-carts to build a SCCA Race Car which I raced from age 16-19. When I turned 21 I bought a motorcycle and was beginning to learn how to stunt, but Things happen and life changes. My accident did change some things about me besides my paralysis. It caused me to readjust my life and look at the priorities. I quit all the bad habits I had, like drinking and so on. My personality even changed, but not for the worst. I began to stay more positive about things and have an optimistic outlook on life. In the long run, my accident saved me from my own destruction and now Im 100,000 times better than I was even though i may be considered by others as limited.

2) I bought a boat in 2009 to rebuild, sell to make money and have alittle fun while doing it. Well, being out there on the water cruising and watching other "able-bodied" people having fun made me want to try somethings. So I borrowed a kneeboard from somebody and tried to ride that. OWWW, laying down on a kneeboard is a mistake! it hurts! So after that I didnt think much else was going to be capable. I actually ended up getting an email from our local Rehab center that has an Adaptive Sports Program which stated that they were having a "learn to ski" clinic that summer! So, I thought I would go and check it out. My girlfriend came with me to support me because she knew how nervous I was to try something like this. When I got out to the clinic at a local YMCA on the Lake I realized quickly that this was the ticket for me. I went through a couple of lessons on how to ride one of their "beginner" waterski's and became hooked! After three trips I bit the bullet and bought a custom cage for my self. I had seen it adapted to a wakeboard so I bought a Board and bolted the cage to the board. It took awhile to learn how to get up on top of the water, but once I did it was on! So by the end of the year I was riding a wakeboard.



3) What gets me out on the water is the wrong question, lol. Its more like, What keeps me off the water and thats work. My girlfriend and I are like fish, we love the water. This year we sold our first boat (bayliner) and bought an older '87 Supra Saltare so we could have a better ski boat. I love spendin time with the family, but even better is being able to have our friends out there enjoying the same things we enjoy. Plus, nothing beats hot babes in small bikin's!!!!!
Sit skiing is a blast man, the freedom you get is phenomenal. When your out there behind the boat it's bliss, just me and the wave! I dont know how to compare sit-boarding to wakeboarding because I never did it before my accident. However, the feeling of being able to ride with able-bodied people and impress them is heart-warming. I really get a kick out of people's reactions to me riding. I definitley can tell you that when you sac a baot out and have the massive swell its intimidating! It may be at your knee level for an "able-bodied" person, but its above my head when I ride and it feels like a climpbing a mountain to get up and over it. No matter what though, it's freaking awesome!!!

4) Call it waht you want. I call it wakeboarding because I dont like to be treated differently, but it is what it is and alot of people call it different things. Sit-Boarding, Adaptive Wakeboarding. Just make sure you use the terms boarding and skiing seperatley. If we are talking about riding on a wakeboard than make sure to use the term board or wakeboard. However, if you use the term skiing than most people would think a longer, thinner board for slalom skiing or jump skiing in three event.

5) My equipment consist of a toe plate bolted to the board and a custom built ski-cage bolted to the board. There are different designs out there but mine is built by a guy here in NC who has a patent on his design. But all of them are custom built to fit each rider for hip width and leg length.



I dislike the bruising I acquire on my hip or leg where the cage will rub my skin if I fall out while riding which is normally due to some sort of fall. But thats a risk Im willing to take to have a good time. Another thing is the shock absorption. When I cross a wake and land I dont have knee's to absorb that impact so it travels through my arms and into my spine. Im sure if I could feel it I would be in pain, lol, but I cant feel it so no biggie.

6) The challenge that I'm trying to overcome this year is the competition side of things. I want to compete and become known throughout the industry just like everyone else does! But there's just not enough sit-boarders out there. In my state I cant count 5 of us. Is that enough to have competitions? Can we be taken seriously by people in the biz or even just other riders? I have yet to have a major injury while riding, a few bumps, bruises, scrapes, etc. I dont ever doubt myself and if I do I look at my tattoo on my left bicep "Where There's a Will, There's a Way"

7) My doctor is pretty cool, he thinks its inspiring but he keeps a good check up on my health. My mom on the other hand....she's a wreck everytime I tell her Im going out. Luckily though, she lives in another city so I dont have to hear her complain and she doesnt have to hear my adventures



There are some skiers in the area but they ride on a different lake than me and so we dont get a chance to ride together. No biggie though cus I jsut ride with my teammates from "WaveNoize" and we help each other out with tricks. I recently became a team member of a team here in NC called "WaveNoize" which is just a local marine audio and lighting store who puts on a contest in the area. I am a member of the WWA and the USA Waterski. Being a WWA memebr allows me access to INT League Events in the area as well. I have a few people that are intereted in learning, but Im still working on trying to set up my own clinic where we can have a few custom cage's on hand to fit a variety of different body size's.

9) Not yet, but after watching some hydrofoil this past weekend I think we can bolt our cage and footplate to the "air-chair". I'm thinking first I might try and bolt the cage to a surfboard and try to wakesurf behind my Supra. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't. But I like trial and error!



10) My goal is to one day be a pro and teach this great sport to other aspiring riders. Some sponsorships would help out a tremendous amount, but like I said before...who's going to take this seriously? Is there even a market for it? Im working on competitions in my area, but there have been competitions all over. The biggest competition so far is the USA Waterski World Championship which will be held in Ohio this year. There is a National's as well. However, thats only two events, and at that they are three event, not wakeboarding!

11) I personally would like to see the sport included in all major Wakeboard Events. Added the division to the Pro Tour, the World Championship. I want to see sponsorships presented to the best riders. Board companies working with the top riders to build boards that could give better control to the adaptive rider. Growth!! Let's just grow this sport into a monster!!!!



12) FUnny stories...lol, nah, none off the top of my head...but if you want to see somehting funny, than look in the mirror, lol, j/k bro.

13) Things you should know....We arent handicapped, we are handi-capable. lol Just remember that we want to be seen and noticed too. Well, atleast I do, lol.

[TheHebrewHammer]

Wow man, this is so awesome! I love your description of the feeling of riding. I can totally see it. I'd love to use it in my story so that everyone who reads it can see it too. Is that ok with you? Can I use your name or your sick photos? If not, that's totally cool.

Also, I really liked reading about your passion for speed. That's something I can totally relate to. I worked at a karting track in high school and did some racing on the side in a Briggs methanol kart. I had dreams of doing SCCA ITA/IT7/ITB racing after college and I also saved all the money I made from work in an account to buy a sportbike. I wanted an old Ninja 250R, but my dad said no, and I eventually decided to spend the money on wakeboarding instead. If I hadn't found wakeboarding, I'd probably be karting and riding my motorcycle. Maybe I'll get back to racing one day .

[speedLINER]

Yeah man, you can use anything you want. If you need more info than no problem. more photos? it doesnt matter. My full name is Will Speed. If you want to talk over the phone just pm me and Ill send you my number.
Yeah, when I raced in SCCA I raced HP, an old MG Midget that my dad and I built to go racing. When I raced karts it was in the WKA and I did asphault Road Racing in the southeast. Ive raced on tracks from Virginia to FLorida.
You know, obviously I had a bike, I bought that bike in boxes and built it from the ground up, it was a 98 Suzuki GSXR600 SRAD. Badd to the Bone.

Just make sure you send me a copy of whatever your finished product is!

Im glad to help bro, anything to get the word out!!!

[TheHebrewHammer]

Sweet! If my interviews go smoothly, I should have something to show you by Saturday or so.