Disabled skiing gives Mashi Shinoda freedom that he doesn't find anywhere else. Born with spina bifida, Mashi fell in love with skiing at the age of six in his native Japan. When his family moved to the East Coast, he continued the sport.
A coach from the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) in Winter Park, Colo., noticed the youngster and invited him out for Christmas camp. The recruitment tactic worked.
“This is where I learned to ski race,” Shinoda says of the fabled program that produces many of the country's top Paralympians.
Shinoda moved to to the area his final year of high school after persuading his parents to let him leave home. At East Grand High School, he was allowed to attend classes for half the day, and ski the other half.
Even now, Shinoda lives in Granby for the winter sports season and practices five days a week. Always on a monoski because he has no sensation from the knees down, he credits today's really light, agile suspension systems for improving his ability to catch bigger air.
“The suspension takes bumps so you don't feel anything,” he says admiringly.
Shinoda's disabled skiing skills have taken him back to his home country for the Japanese Paralympics and World Cup finals.
“It would be cool if I could go to the (world-wide) Paralympics,” Shinoda says.
Catching up with the young man at Winter Park Ski Resort in a triple slalom fun event that raises money for NSCD programs, he's busy talking to friends between races. Although his team of six at this competition got knocked out in the first triple slalom run, Shinoda is all smiles.
“It doesn't matter that we got eliminated,” he says. “It's all about having fun.”
