Confessions of an Outdoor Junkie with a Disability

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It’s not that I can’t leave.  I’m not under house arrest.  My lifestyle won’t let me.   I’ve become spoiled by the abundance of accessible recreation available to me--accessible by every definition, including the one used by the ADA.  Utah is an outdoor recreation paradise … especially for people with a disability. It’s all about freedom, and I have a lot of it here. There are also a lot of resources for equipment, training, rehab and social connections. 

Utah is fast becoming an elite World Class training ground for athletes of all disciplines.  And that bodes well for all of us who call this home.  Because we get to play on the same World Class playground.  For that we can thank the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.  In the years leading up to the games, Utah saw a flurry of construction, as new winter sports venues from skating rinks to ski jumps popped up like mushrooms. Utah’s winter resorts added lodging, ski lifts, new runs, and restaurants in anticipation of the world’s arrival.  For a local (a true local, since I was born here) it was like Santa Claus had come with deep pockets and filled the landscape with toys of every kind.  

I live in Salt Lake City, near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, 13 miles from the snowboarding and backcountry skiing hot-spot of Brighton.  Solitude, with its charming European style ski village, is just one mile closer.  About a mile and a half south is the entrance to Little Cottonwood Canyon, portal to the legendary steeps and deeps of Alta and Snowbird. Park City, Deer Valley and The Canyons are a 25- minute drive.