We've spent the holiday weekend at Keystone Resort in Colorado, a great place for families—especially ones with kids who have special needs, because there is an awesome adaptive skiing program for kids of all abilities. It's run by the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center, with 25 staff members and about 350 awesome volunteers. They enable everyone to ski, whether independently mobile or not, and have worked with kids with various needs—cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, you name it.
Max had three lessons, each with the same staffer (thank you, Chris!) and a volunteer. It took him awhile to get into it, but once he did, he was very happy—and very proud of himself. If you've skied, you know how good it feels to get into a groove. For Max, the thrill is extra-awesome because it gives him added confidence about moving his body. By the end of his lessons, he was able to turn his skis and independently walk with them on.
Check him out! (The wobbly spots are my camera-holding challenges, not Max's.) Then come back tomorrow to see the new sport Max invented.
