Even as a child, Kevin Bramble loved sports and speed. He skateboarded, surfed, and participated in alpine ski racing. When he was 19, he left his New Jersey home and headed West, planning to take up residence in California and go to college. Instead he found himself at Lake Tahoe, where his future took an unusual turn.

While skiing in the backcountry near Heavenly, California, in 1994, he broke his back skiing off a cliff. After 19 months in a body cast, Kevin made his way back to the slopes, once again cultivating his passion for freedom and speed and discovering his livelihood in the process.

Learning to Sit-Ski
After teaching himself to sit-ski, Kevin got into disabled ski racing. He won his first national super-g in the sit-down division in 1998 and no one has beaten him in the downhill race since.

He won gold in the 2002 Paralympic downhill in Salt Lake City, and again took the gold in Turin, Italy, in 2006, after making a huge mistake and recovering to make up 2.42 seconds on the last seven gates. His speed clocked in at over 70 mph. 

Unlike other United States Disabled Team members, Kevin sticks to what he does best—go fast. That means he races only in the downhill race, choosing to forego racing in the slalom events.

“No one likes to lose,” says Kevin. “I don’t want the added stress and burden of skiing more races. I’d rather win one than lose all four.”
 
Monoskis Needed Modifications
After breaking several pieces of monoski equipment early in his disabled skiing career, Kevin decided to build his own. He taught himself to weld, changed the suspension design, and paid a Swedish company to custom-build a shock absorber. He also designed the seat suspension to snap into a regular ski binding, which makes changing skis easy.

Kevin Bramble Monoski
Today, most of the Disabled Ski Team members ski on the KBG— Kevin Bramble Goodz. Besides selling the monoski to the general public, Kevin landed a contract with the Veterans Administration to equip disabled veterans as part of their rehabilitation.

Kevin’s natural knack and passion for freedom and speed bring him to terrain parks, halfpipes, and extreme terrain and also earned him a role in the 2006 Warren Miller film, Off the Grid. Filmed while heli-skiing in Alaska, Kevin admits it was the opportunity of a lifetime.
 
“That is as good as it gets,” he says. “I’d stop anything to go do it again.”
 
Sights on 2010 Paralympics
Kevin currently has his sights set on the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver where, if he wins gold again, he’ll become the first disabled sit-down skier to win three golds in a single event. After that, Kevin plans to retire from disabled skiing and move with his wife of two years to someplace “really warm.”
 
“The next chapter of my life will be surfing,” says Kevin. “I won’t have to don long johns—just shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt. Life will be easy.”
 
Even if he lands somewhere warm, Kevin will continue making his KBG, and plans to expand the line to include a water board, cross country ski, and maybe a mountain bike.
 
“The KBG is a huge part of my life, and people need it,” says Kevin. “I want to provide skiing for people with disabilities because that’s what got me where I am. As long as people want them, I’ll make them.”

Contact Kevin at KevinBramble@hotmail.com or visit his Website at: http://www.geocities.com/kevinbramble.

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