Here’s the inside scoop about what the top alpine athletes on the U.S. Disabled Ski Team are up to and how they filled their summer aside from training, training and more training.

This group of very competitive men and women come from all over the USA. Some are disabled veterans, others have sustained disabilities as a result of an accident or birth defect. Nothing stops them...they're some of the most inspirational people you’ll ever meet and they all have one thing in common – they all love ski racing.

The Alpine A Team

Stephani Victor (Park City, UT) is highly sought after to do motivational speaking and also has an intense training regime during the summer months.  To be shocked, motivated, and inspired by this incredible woman and athlete, visit Stephani Victor's Website.  She lost both her legs above the knee when she was crushed by two cars in 1995.  A very driven person, she has won two Paralympic medals, including gold at the 2006 Torino Games, a World Championship title, and five World Cup globes, including the overall in 2007.


 

Chris Devlin-Young (Campton, NH) defines perseverance.  A disabled veteran, he doesn't let a bad season or injury hold him back. Case in point, at the start of the 2007-08 winter he was on the C team and by March 2008 he clearly had dominated the speed races and won the super G World Cup title despite injury. Devlin-Young took time this summer to rehab and get strong, returning to training with the Team for the first time this summer at the Olympic Training Center in September 2008. When not at home and not preparing for winter, he is the House Manager/Chief of Set Building and Painting at Shakespeare in the Valley, Theatre Under the Stars in Waterville, NH. He also does motivational speaking at elementary schools throughout the U.S.

The Alpine B Team

Laurie Stephens (Wenham, MA) is all about skiing and training.  During September, she was on snow at a training camp in Chile. Stephens was born with spinal bifida and started skiing at 12 when a disability group went to Loon Mountain in New Hampshire. Ironically, she met her now- teammate Chris Devlin-Young at that program. 

 




Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, CO) was excused from her camps this summer. Not just for any ole reason but BECAUSE she was busy at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics having the ride of her life!  She entered the track cycling event ranked third in the world and left the Paralympics with some bling-bling! She won a silver medal, while her teammate Barbara Buchan took the gold. All is good when the national anthem plays! See pictures of Allison Jones.

 

 
Carl Burnet (Winter Park, CO), a Dartmouth graduate, does freelance work editing dictionaries.  I'd say he's in high demand for team Scrabble and crossword challenges!  Outside of wordsmithing, he keeps busy training.  For cardio he enjoys swimming and hand cycling. He also enjoys travel and resides in Bend, OR, part time and Winter Park, CO, during the winter season.

 

Gerald Hayden (Winter Park, CO) works full time (summers) in the purchasing department of an Englewood, CO, company called  Arris, the leading provider of IP streaming and advertising. In the winter, he resides in Winter Park, CO.  He tells me he works, trains and sleeps!

 

 

 

Monte Meier (Park City, UT) is part of Home Depot's Olympic Job Opportunities program and works in the hardware department.  He knows a thing or two about putting the hammer down, as he also trains hard in the summer. And when not working or training, he's biking, golfing and fishing.

 


 

Brad Washburn (Winter Park, CO) has his own business called Summit Landscaping and Tree Removal in Winter Park, CO.  I'd say the grass is always green for him and it's a perfect gig for a winter athlete! Work all summer, ski race all winter.

 

 

 

Tyler Walker (Fraconia,NH) just recently finished helping his father  restore a 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, and two cars from the 70s, a Cadillac Eldorado and a Cadillac Fleetwood.  The rest of the time he can be found training in the gym and on his hand cycle on the open road.  He is a perfect example of "It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog." Walker is determined to be the best he can be in ski racing; find out more about Tyler Walker and skiing. 

 


The Alpine C Team

Ralph Green (Vail, CO), originally from Brooklyn, lost his leg as a teenager in a random street shooting. He now lives near Vail, CO, and also is a Home Depot employee, working in various departments. He can be found riding the countryside around Vail on his fancy road bike without a left hand crank. Yep, up those hills, pedaling with one leg!  After he gets off the bike he heads for the gym.  He does motivational speaking and is often asked to attend events representing the USDST around the country.  He acts as a spokesperson for cable company COX Communications.  COX is a major supporter of the annual fundraising event for USDST, called the cable television industry’s SkiTam.


John Whitney (Towson, MD) runs the waterfront program at the Belle Haven Club in Greenwich, CT, in the summers.  In October, he was asked to help with a regatta in the islands. In the winter, it's all about skiing and racing. Ships ahoy!

 

 

 

John Knudsen (American Canyon, CA) ditches his wheelchair and long boards on long sidewalks near the San Francisco piers and hand cycles in the summer months. Last summer on a trip he enjoyed camping, hiking, tubing and kayaking down long rivers in California. He and the other members of his band, Crazy Legs and the Cones, have written four songs and are in the process of writing a few more.  Then they will be ready for their first gig. In his spare time he gives guitar lessons and may be teaching the next John Mayer.

 

Erik Bayindirli (Deer Mountain, UT), age 46, was the oldest rookie at this summer's U.S. Ski Team/U.S. Snowboarding Rookie Camp. Proof that you're never too old to give up on your dreams. When not getting ready for winter, he designs, makes, and repairs jewelry. He does his workout regime, written by Jessica Tidswell, and also uses his BowflexTM.


 George Sansonetis (Leadville, CO) is a city boy who loves the mountains. Born in Brooklyn, NY, he's now living the good life in the mountains fishing, hunting, and camping . He is recovering from a shoulder injury sustained during the 2007-08 season and is avidly doing his physical therapy now. We know that's true because his new wife tells us so!

 

 

See Related Articles
Check out an interview with Jack Briggs, a disabled Vietnam vet hired by the U.S. Ski Association in 1986 to create a program for skiers with disabilities, in Disabled Veteran Discusses The U.S. Disabled Ski Team’s Beginnings.

See Relearning How to Ski After an SCI: Muffy Davis to learn more about one woman's struggle (and success) to find her place on the mountain after a serious accident left her paralyzed.