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Shriners Hospital in Salt Lake provides all sorts of orthopedic care for children throughout the western United States. Each year the hospital sponsors a special skiing and snowboarding camp at one of the resorts. This week, a dozen amputees are at Park City Mountain Resorts.
Twelve teenage amputees from five nearby states are spending the week at Park City at the Un-Limb-ited Ski and Snowboard Camp.
Eighteen-year-old Sydney Tall of Highland, Utah, is one of those participating. She lost her left leg to cancer when she was a little girl, but it hasn't stopped her from learning how to ski.
"I wouldn't be skiing without this camp. I wouldn't have known anything about this stuff," Tall said.
The National Ability Center has set up facilities like this one to provide people with disabilities the equipment and lessons to participate in their favorite winter activities.
"We are an adaptive school, of sorts, here at Park City Mountain Resort. So, it's nice that we can attract families who have members with disabilities, because the family can ski here, and we can also provide ski lessons for that family member with the disability," said Kristen Caldwell, ski program director for the National Ability Center.
Each year at these camps, the students receive training from professional instructors -- both individual and group sessions. Several of these teens have been here in past years, and they really help newcomers feel welcome.
"To come here and be surrounded by 12 other amputees, and to work with others in similar situations, they really feel comfortable and ready to pursue a little more aggressive aspirations, I guess," said physical therapist Matt Lowell, co-director of the ski camp.
Many of the past participants here have gone on to other sports and are competing on a professional level. As one of the skiers said today, "It feels really good being able to do what everybody else does."
"Probably the toughest thing, it can be a pretty intimidating thing to go on a slippery surface down a hill. But they usually pick it up pretty quickly," Lowell said.
The National Ability Center also has facilities at Deer Valley, the Canyons and several other Utah resorts, as well as several hundred across the country. There's also a summer recreational program too. [Click here to learn more about these programs]
E-mail: kmccord@ksl.com
