From Rehab Tool to Elite Sport: A History of Adaptive Skiing

Throughout its history, two forces shaped the sport of adaptive skiing. Wars and the resulting rehabilitation programs were the catalysts to develop the sport, and accidental injury added to the growing number of people with disabilities who could benefit physically and socially from the sport.

Rehabilitation Roots – Disabled Veterans Lead the Way
Adaptive skiing can be traced to Europe around the time of World War II when wounded German and Austrian mountain troops wanted to quickly get back to what they had been doing—skiing. Attempts were first made to use underarm crutches for skiing in Switzerland, but these efforts were eventually given up.

Then, in 1942, Franz Wendel of Berchtesgadener, Germany successfully created a pair of crutches and attached them to short skis, enabling him to maneuver on the ski slopes. Wendel, whose leg was amputated in 1941 from a war injury, entered competitions for the handicapped and by 1943 was being recognized for his “three-track” skiing.

The sport of handicapped skiing soon spread by word of mouth to Austria and, through trial and error, attempts were made to refine the crutch skis. An Austrian by the name of Sepp “Peppi” Zwicknagel, whose disability was caused by a hand grenade during World War II, further promoted the sport of amputee skiing.

"A rehabilitation volunteer at two U.S. Army hospitals during the war, between 1944 and 1945 Fraser began using skiing as a rehabilitation technique for amputees, and quickly demonstrated its effectiveness in helping wounded and disabled vets regain their strength and physical confidence"

In 1942, both his legs were amputated, but since he had been a skier and mountain climber before the war, he relearned to ski after overcoming frustrations and ill-fitting equipment. Peppi went on to become a certified ski instructor at the famous Kitzbühel ski school in Austria, where he persuaded the Austrian Ski Association to finance a division for the handicapped. In 1947 the Association organized demonstrations by more than a hundred amputees at the annual races in Badgastein. Dr. Ludwig Guttman, a neurosurgeon, was also instrumental in establishing races in Austria for three-trackers.

Around the same time, both Europeans and Americans began developing rehabilitation programs at army hospitals to encourage amputees to become involved with skiing. The first American skier known to have played a role in handicapped skiing was Gretchen Fraser.

A rehabilitation volunteer at two U.S. Army hospitals during the war, between 1944 and 1945 Fraser began using skiing as a rehabilitation technique for amputees, and quickly demonstrated its effectiveness in helping wounded and disabled vets regain their strength and physical confidence. In 1948, when she became the first American skier to win a gold medal in the Olympics, she continued to “spead the word” about the value of skiing for those with disabilities.  Before returning home, she stopped in St. Anton, Austria and donated one of her Olympic trophies to the town, with the request that it be used exclusively for promotion of St. Anton’s  handicapped racing circuit.

Several Austrians also helped advance amputee skiing techniques. A ski instructor named Toni Praxmair, owner of the famous Café Praxmair in Kitzbühel, developed and refined instructional techniques by skiing with one leg bound behind him, subsequently teaching many  amputees to ski using his methods.

Bruno Wintersteller, a member of the Austrian Ski Team who had lost a leg in a skiing accident, further developed Praxmair’s technique. (Wintersteller not only became an extremely proficient amputee skier, he also climbed the Matterhorn on one leg many times.) Herman Altman, who started a ski school for amputees during the late 1950’s in Salzburg, helped make Wintersteller’s techniques more accessible by recording them in an instruction manual that others could use to establish similar training programs.

Early Years of Adaptive Skiing in the U.S.
Adaptive skiing spread to the United States by word of mouth among amputees, instructors, and specialists in prosthetics. Magazine articles and films about amputee skiing began to appear, prompting more amputees to take up the sport, often by making their own “outriggers” based on pictures they had seen. Eventually, outriggers obtained from an Austrian firm made their way around the country and were copied and refined. A spirit of openness and sharing, which permeates the sport even today, helped new amputees begin skiing and further develop and refine equipment and skills. National and international amputee races began to appear, offering skiers an opportunity to take the sport beyond the recreational level and become competitive.

In 1952 or 1953 American Bob Engelien, who lost a leg in the Korean War, observed amputees skiing in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen region of Germany. Although he had never skied before, Bob immediately arranged for two days of lessons, which convinced him that skiing would be extremely valuable to other recuperating amputees. He resigned from the military to start an amputee ski program in the United States which became known as the American Amputee Ski School based in Snow Summit, California. Engelien died of cancer a year after his program began, but Scobee Smith carried on his work.

In 1953, Jim Winthurs, a World War II veteran of the Tenth Mountain Division and an avid skier, helped advance adaptive skiing at Donner Summit in California. Although Jim survived combat with his limbs intact, when he became a certified professional ski instructor and ski school director, he worked tirelessly to adapt ski techniques and equipment to meet the needs of disabled skiers. Eventually, Jim became known as the grandfather of adaptive skiing in the United States.

By 1958, on the East Coast, two World War II veterans, Paul Leimkuehler and Stanley Zakas, who were inspired by watching movies of amputee skiers, took up adaptive skiing at Holiday Valley, New York after developing their own outriggers. Since they both had the same foot size and were missing opposite legs, they purchased one pair of ski boots and one pair of skis and divided the equipment between them.

Establishing Adaptive Programs
As skiing began to flourish throughout the United States, the sport became especially popular in Oregon, where Dick Martin became the first amputee ski instructor certified by the United States Ski Association, Northwestern Division, at the end of the 1962-63 season. Martin, along with Lee Perry of the Portland Junior Chamber of Commerce Ski School, formed the J.C. Amputee Ski School, graduating several classes of students. Hal Schroeder, one of the school’s early students, followed in Martin’s footsteps and became one of the first certified amputee ski instructors.

Several students from the Portland J.C. group along with other amputees formed the Flying Outriggers ski club, further promoting the sport. In 1965, they wrote and published an instructional manual titled Amputee Ski Techniques. Other amputee ski schools began to flourish across America, and by 1962, Kirk Bauer, Doug Pringle, and other disabled and able-bodied California skiers developed the National Amputee Skier’s Association.

As wounded Vietnam veterans, both Kirk and Doug had been students of Jim Winthurs’ program. In 1972, the organization became known as the National Inconvenienced Sportsman’s Association and included other leisure sports like swimming, sailing, golfing, river rafting, trampoline, and water skiing. Their motto, “If I Can Do This, I Can Do Anything,” reflects their feeling that once they have learned a sport like skiing and feel free to take solo skiing trips, they are no longer handicapped—only inconvenienced.

The organization, which changed its name to National Handicapped Sports and eventually to Disabled Sports USA (DS/USA), has active chapters throughout the United States which promote this philosophy and help to make people aware of the leisure activities available to them.

Returning Disabled Veterans Drive Colorado Developments
The Vietnam War provided a boost to the development of three-track skiing in the United States when many Americans returned home missing one or more limbs. Beyond the need for physical rehabilitation, doctors recognized the need for a psychological boost and social contact. Skiing, which combines physical strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance with a sense of accomplishment, speed, and an opportunity to socialize with other disabled and able-bodied skiers, provided an excellent rehabilitation opportunity.

In the winter of 1968 to 1969, Shepard’s ski school began at Arapahoe Basin in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver, Colorado. The school was a cooperative effort between Denver’s Children’s Hospital and Fitzsimmons Army Hospital. The Chiefs of the Orthopedics Departments got together and fashioned a program using information they obtained from the German and Austrian programs.

The first year, 18 children aged eight to seventeen teamed up with 20 amputee servicemen and learned to ski using gear donated by ski equipment companies and local citizens. Ed Lucks, along with his wife (who originally ran the program), later moved to Aspen, then down the road to Snowmass, where he established a large adaptive ski school.

During the 1970 to 1971 ski season, another Colorado-based ski area, Winter Park, expressed an interest in handicap skiing and the program moved to this resort. Under the direction of Hal O’Leary, who also authored Bold Tracks (the definitive manual on teaching adaptive skiing), the program later became the largest adaptive ski program in the world and now accommodates students representing 45 different disabilities..

Becoming Inclusive – Reaching Out to Other Disabilities
In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, adaptive skiing was mainly a recreational sport for amputees. The majority of skiers were those who could ski on one ski with two outriggers and those who skied on two skis, such as upper extremity amputees. Below-the-knee single and bilateral amputees learned to ski through able-bodied programs using specially designed prosthetic legs and regular ski poles. However, in 1969 blind skier Jean Eymore had begun a skiing program in Aspen that would become the prototype for blind skiing programs around the country.

After losing his sight to diabetes, Eymore, who was a senior ski instructor at Aspen Highlands, taught himself to ski again. He and a group of instructors experimented with various teaching and guiding techniques until they developed a system that allowed Jean to navigate the mountain successfully.

Convinced their system would work for others, they hosted a week of skiing for seven blind teenagers from the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind in Colorado Springs and were soon teaching the techniques to instructors from other ski areas in Colorado. Their Blind Outdoor Leisure Development program, BOLD, spread through word-of-mouth and media coverage and within a few years local programs sprang up around the country.

During this same period, another form of adaptive skiing known as sit skiing developed to enable people with spinal cord injuries and other mobility limitations to participate in the sport. The European pulk, a sled that cross-country skiers pulled behind them to carry gear, was converted into a kayak-like sled to accommodate those without the use of their legs or those with poor balance.

The result was the Aurora, developed by Peter Axelson, a former design engineer. Using two very short ski poles, sit-skiers could maneuver themselves down the mountain. By the winter of 1982, a more functional ski for this population called the mono-ski was invented by mounting a seat on a single ski. This adaptation allowed for more maneuverability on the slopes.

Getting Competitive: Paralympics
U.S. adaptive skiing eventually evolved into a competitive sport, reflected in the development of the Handicap Nationals, which began at Winter Park in 1972. Winter Park continued to host this event until the competitions began moving around the country on a yearly basis in 1983. In 1974, the U.S. Handicapped Ski Team was organized and competed in the first international competition, the World Disabled Alpine Championships, held in France.

At that time, the main criteria for being on the team were some ability to ski and, equally important, an ability topay one’s own way to the races!. From 1974 to 1980, team participation  was minimal due to a lack of financial resources and organization at the domestic and international levels.

Beginning in 1980, however, the Team started to take a more organized approach, developing selection criteria and organizing itself according to the rules that govern elite sports. The team hired coaches, developed training programs, and began the ascent toward becoming elite athletes. A regional race circuit was developed around the country where prospective athletes could race to qualify to compete in the Nationals and a new level of elite sports was born.

The U.S. Team competed in its first Winter Paralympic Games in Geilo, Norway, in 1980. That same year, the International Olympic Committee ratified the Paralympic Games, which had begun in 1976 with Summer Games competitions in Sweden. In 1982 the U.S. Team competed in the World Disabled Alpine Championships andwon its first international medal in 1982 – a sign that U.S. adaptive skiing was now competitive with the traditional ski powers of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

Two years later, during the 1984 Winter Paralympic Games held in Innsbruck, Austria, the U.S. Team tied with Austria, Germany, and Switzerland for alpine medals won. In fact, 1984 became a landmark year for adaptive skiing when the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo made the decision to includ adaptive skiing as a demonstration sport from that point on. Three U.S. racers participated in this event, and all three won medals.

As the team of skiers continued to win competitions , the U.S. Ski Association (USSA) – the able-bodied sport’s national governing body -- began to take notice, and in 1986 the U.S. Handicapped Ski Team moved from the National Handicapped Sports’ jurisdiction to become part of the U.S. Ski Team. This action by the USSA set a precedent and established a model both domestically and internationally for the integration of elite disabled sports into the associated “able-bodied” federations. Just twelve years after its inception, the U.S. Handicapped Ski Team officially became licensed and logoed as the U.S. Disabled Ski Team (USDST).

In 1986, the USDST competed in the World Disabled Alpine Championships in Salen, Sweden, and won 59 medals -- almost twice as many as second place Germany. Two years later, at the 1988 Winter Paralympic Games, the USDST retained its number one world ranking as 400 athletes from 22 countries competed in Innsbruck, Austria. That same year, adaptive skiing was recognized as an exhibition sport in the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary.

From Competitive to Elite Disabled Sport
In 1998 the USDST took a further step in its evolution as an elite sport when the International Ski Federation (called FIS for the French name, Federation Internationale de Ski) accepted the Disabled Alpine World Cup Circuit and established a disabled sub-committee under the FIS Alpine Committee. Between 19 and 22 nations now compete on the FIS international circuit, which is run like the able-bodied ski circuit. Being recognized by FIS and developing a World Cup series was a further step in building the credibility of competitive adaptive skiing.

The current goal of the USDST is to establish competitions that are as much like the able-bodied version of the sport as possible. Disabled ski racers now abide by the FIS and USSA rules with only a few modifications, most of which are administrative rather than technical. During the 2000-01 ski season, disabled athletes skied in four separate World Cup sites, two in Europe and two in North America.

Full Circle: From Rehab Tool to Elite Sport to Recreational Fun
Opportunities now exist to learn adaptive skiing in dozens of programs in the U.S. and throughout the world. Not only can disabled skiers choose between both recreational and competitive opportunities, including ski camps designed to develop racing skills, but more and more ski resorts are actively catering to this large and growing consumer market. Once equipped with basic skills, skiers with a multitude of disabilities are now free to ski at their own comfort level, and at ski areas located around the globe.