March 3, 2020

400 disabled Veterans to take on Snowmass Mountain for adaptive sports challenge

WHAT: The National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, presented by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Disabled American Veterans (DAV), serves as a world leader in adaptive winter sports instruction for disabled Veterans and promotes world-class health care and rehabilitation. Veterans experience opportunities for self-development and challenge through sports therapy and leisure activities such as adaptive Alpine and Nordic skiing, rock climbing, sled hockey, scuba diving and other adaptive activities.

WHEN & WHERE: March 29 – April 3 in Snowmass Village, Colorado.

WHO: Since 1987, the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic has served thousands of disabled Veterans living with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic amputations, visual impairments, certain neurological conditions and other disabilities. Participation is open to U.S. military service Veterans from all eras ranging from WWII to Iraq and Afghanistan.

WHY: The National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic has helped many disabled Veterans overcome obstacles and challenge their perceived limitations. The clinic helps them to recognize the physical and mental healing that skiing and other winter sports can provide to increase their confidence and independence. Each year, hundreds of Veterans attend from across the country, along with 200 certified disabled ski instructors and members of the U.S. Disabled Ski Team.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS: Interviews, b-roll, photos and other media opportunities are available leading up to and including the week of the event.

For more information contact Jennifer Dikes at, 385-227-2906, [email protected] or Todd Hunter at 202-314-5219, [email protected].

A life-changing event, disabled Veterans to take on Snowmass in adaptive sports challenge

WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic will take place March 29 – April 3, 2020 in Snowmass, Colorado.

The annual clinic, presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and DAV (Disabled American Veterans), serves as a world leader in adaptive winter sports instruction for disabled Veterans, and promotes the world-class healthcare and rehabilitation that is a primary goal of the VA and DAV. Veterans experience opportunities for self-development and challenge through sports therapy and leisure activities such as adaptive Alpine and Nordic skiing, rock climbing, sled hockey, scuba diving and other adaptive activities.

“Adaptive sports therapy gives freedom to those heroes who have fought for our freedom,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said. “This clinic empowers Veterans to move past perceived limitations, reach their own personal victories and prove the impossible is possible.”

For many of the hundreds of Veterans who participate in the clinic, the adaptive sports journey is just beginning. For others, it becomes a way of life in Snowmass and is a passion they take back home. The hope is that Veterans will build upon this experience and continue to lead active, healthy lives and overcome perceived limitations.

“Being seriously wounded, injured or ill in military service is a life-changing event that can be mentally, physically and emotionally debilitating,” said DAV National Commander Stephen “Butch” Whitehead, the first post-9/11 Veteran to serve at the helm of the organization. “Fortunately, events like this clinic give us the opportunity to push past our perceived limitations and prove to ourselves and others how much we really can do. It’s incredibly empowering.”

Hundreds of volunteers, strategic corporate partnerships, nonprofit organizations and individual donors make this life-changing clinic possible.

Interviews, b-roll, photos and other media opportunities are available leading up to and including the week of the event; please help us get the word out. For more information, contact: VA’s Jennifer Dikes at 385-227-2906, [email protected] and DAV’s Todd Hunter at 202-314-5219, [email protected].

Returning to the Mountain of Miracles

This past week and over the past several years, you may have seen me here at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic—flying down the mountain. You’ve probably seen me fall down on the mountain, too!

Before my disabilities, I was an adrenaline junkie. It’s what led me into the Army and then to become a rescue swimmer in the Coast Guard.

But I thought that was all over in 1997 when I woke up from a coma and discovered that in order to save my life from a devastating bacterial infection, doctors had removed all four of my limbs.

I was medically retired from the military just over two decades ago. If you had told me that one day I would be flying down a mountain with snow flying everywhere and the wind whipping past me, I would have never believed it. I would have never believed that I would one day be skiing, rock climbing and playing hockey.

Each of you understands how a single moment can change everything in our lives. Whether it’s the diagnosis of a life-changing medical condition or a devastating injury, we are all susceptible to one day being faced with challenges that change our daily lives and our future visions. These injuries and medical conditions create obstacles, but they don’t have to stop us from living full, active lives. We need to be determined to overcome those obstacles that try to block us physically and mentally.

I’ve learned to conquer this mountain with no arms and no legs. Was it easy? No. I was determined to do it, but that didn’t mean it was going to be easy. I fell down. A lot! But I got back up. And later I would fall, but I would get back up again. I was determined to prove to myself I could do it, but it was really inspiration from my fellow veterans—fighters and warriors—who always got back up.

That is what we do at the clinic. We may slip and we may fall—but we never, ever give up. It’s about teamwork, too. We are not here alone. We have hundreds of battle buddies beside us who will not allow us to fail, and we won’t let them fail.

I encourage you to take what you have learned about yourself out on the mountain this past week back to your communities. You have achieved great things this week—don’t stop when you leave Snowmass.

I know you can do it!