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Show Thursday, December 15, 1994 D Page A6 The Park Record O Section A Polish quadriplegic skier says after his accident he needed by JIM POWELL Record guest writer states Tofnasz Tasiemski (say Ta-shem-ski). He is the kind of a guy who has the determination to be an expert in whatever he does. Tomasz is an expert skier. Poland placed him on their 1994 Paralympic Team held at Lillehammer, Norway. Tomasz is an expert on a wheelchair. Tomasz is a self-taught expert, via computer program, at the English language. This man, who only four years ago suffered a diving accident that left him with no feeling or use of his body from armpits down and severely limited the function of his hands, skis and lives with the best of us. Somehow being with him, you forget that he is classified as a quadriplegic (no use of the lower body and limited use of both arms). He and his friend, Romuald Schmidt, invited me to ski with them several days ago after a pleasant lunch at Baja Cantina. I had skied last year with skiers on monoskis furnished by the National Ability Center and was amazed at their expertise of using their torsos and arms to ski. They were paraplegic (no use of the lower body). But a quadriplegic skiing? No way! At lunch Tomasz said, "I wasted away in the hospital for a year after Gart Bros, and Gart Sports are NOW ONE great sporting goods company 1 V 1 Ml 11,1 V M U. UM MOl X X i X. FTliiiirT "r- I SALOMON n K2 TRC SKI PACKAGE I I Kzsw DYWASTAR ELLEl "J. ) MfgListss Package includes K2TRC skis. SKI PACKACE f"" 1 . r I I HI X.A If Marker M41 bindings & Scott Package includes Dynastar I yXld V" LLC-I S. Poles. wJEIIe skis. Marker M41'bindings I 1 3 tmJtmJ I " save even more ins ' A,Mfg. List $720 - s. , & Kerma poles. Ut package22 iVlf purchased separately 574 NJS M9-Li5t M9S W ' n - - is ' gLpTt' mTus"!'nc . "1" rrm St-- - m f-ii sk, fH UNDERWEAR ffJ0AWZ CARRIER I J SAUCER "X JbofokT V BRYSTIE I BRYSTIE L W$ f TURTLE NECKS V FLEECE NECK FLEECE HAT SKI & BOOT J X J? CATOR I J ,t COMBO I M HAir mark Moftmsrr smowbomo 11 I I ' . T , . . . n ." DASIC wmiB.wiHwcA . J 1 Manufacturer's List Price . L -Blpmss Ijusg25-30OFF n LY.T?t:)i L ,., V I rTrot7:!;7:t- I TlTl jMWCAK Manufacturer's List Price II bd Aims boot ...ti9.99 N 1 i C-t CJrJCz. & CHILDREN'S the accident Everything was done for me, and my condition was not going to improve. I found a group of wheelchair people who had determined that they could work together to find ways of taking care of themselves. Even the instructors were wheelchair people. We found ways to do everything for ourselves. After a year with them, I was able to move into my own apartment and become independent. I had been a ski instructor before the accident, and I knew that to enjoy life that I had to ski. With the help of The Sports Association of the Disabled, I was able to get back to skiing. "It is my goal to study and experience skiing for disabled in the United States and go back to Poland and teach sports and skiing for disabled people. I'm confident that it can be done. Sports are always a challenge; they are even more of a challenge if you are disabled. The United States ski resorts are much better equipped for disabled skiers. Now it is almost impossible for wheelchair people to get around at the resorts in Poland, here we can go almost anyplace, it's wonderful. Well, let's go skiing." We went over to the National Ability Center to transfer Tomasz from wheelchair to monoski. When Romuald and I lifted him into the seat of his monoski, Tomasz PRE IYI2C SKI PACICACE j. Package includes Pre M2C skis, bindings & Pre poles. Colors, winked at me and said, "There are some things that I cannot do by myself." He went on to explain about his equipment Since he has no control over his torso, his seat has a high back and he must be secured to it with Velcro straps. To compensate for his inability to grip his two ski outriggers, special plastic shells molded to fit his gloved hands and lower arms are securely fastened almost like ski boots. Two weatherproof bags are zipped over his body. "I have no feeling, so I wouldn't even know if my feet and legs were freezing." He wears a complete helmet like a motorcyclist. Once all put together, he was off to First Time lift even before we got on our skis. They stopped the lift for him to get on, he swings an outrigger extended arm over the back of the chair to make sure he won't slide off. Remember, he has no control over his body. Romuald sits beside him and grabs the back of his parka for a bit of extra confidence, and up they go. At the top they dismount without the lift having to stop and immediately head over to Ski Team lift and repeat the procedure. They wait for me in the blizzard at the top, and we start down together. Once down in the bowl, I find that I must ski a little beyond control to keep up even on this easy trail. "How does he do it?" We go up together to the top of MB IT 1 1 N Tyrolia 540 sizes and styles may vary by location. Interim markdowns may have been taken. Quantities limited 'aJW 0 ' r - Romuald Schnidi, left, Prospector lift, which Tomasz prefers because it has a safety bar. Imagine riding on a chair lift with no control of your body! Tomasz says, "Which trail do you want to ski?" We decide on Parley's Park, as it will get us back to the Prospector lift. He falls once but gets up with no trouble. This allows me to catch my breath and almost catch up. My solace is that he is, after all, an Olympic skier. At the top of Prospector, I beg off more siding with these experts for my own safety saying that I didn't want to hold them back. We make arrangements to get together after 3 i3iLrl3.a eudJU? IRaktile to ski to enjoy life and Tomasz Tasiemski they return in a few days from a visit to Breckenridge where they were to attend a large festival clinic for disabled skiers. About 400 participants would be there. They came over for an impromptu cheese fondue last night, I picked them up where they were staying. Tomasz came wheeling out in the snow storm. I opened the car door and expected that Romuald and I would lift him into the seat, but somehow using his arms he flipped himself onto the seat while we stood by. His 17-pound 17-pound wheelchair collapses and n 6.5 MEN'S MES' KI BOOTS Mfg.List $335 to stock on hand. EXP. 122494 AD I941S23 in: i wheels dismount so it neatly fits into the trunk of my car. In no time we are sitting around the tajle quaffing beer and wine -j?id preparing the fondue. It had 'not really occurred to me that Tomasz might have trouble with fondue. He didn't. His hands couldn't effectively punch the fork into the firm country bread chunks. I noticed that he would use both hands' to place the fork on the bread then drive it in using his forehead to press the fork. "Now, that's using your head." I said. I asked Tomasz to explain the mechanics of how he made his ski turn. He said, "I don't have much'tb do; it is mostly the equipment. If I want to turn right, I plant my right outrigger and just pivot around it I can't really do much body rotation or weight shift. I can usually manage to keep in balance." He really likes the fall line. Table talk led to the plans they had to visit Las Vegas and then the Grand Canyon. They were very impressed with the scenery on their trip ,to Breckenridge and are looking forward to seeing more of our vast and empty West, 0 They have not encountered another quadriplegic skier, but Tomasz is preparing for the .day when he can teach one to learn the joy of skiing. Until then he most work with, as he puts it, "comparatively healthy para plegics." Schneider Carpets Black Diamond Expert Carpet Cleaning New Carpet Sales Installation and Repairs Mobile Showroom e,, Carpet Cleaning Flood Restoration Upholstery Cleaning Auto Detailing House Cleaning Free Estimates Serving the Park City Area for over 10 years 645-9452 on Larpet and i Upholstery Cleaning j Schneider Carpets J 645-9452 I An early reminder about Early Deadlines Due to the Christmas . Holidays, the deadline for the Park Record issue of December 29 will be on Friday December 23 at 12 noon for Display ads, Classifed ads, and Legal Notices 649-9014 P.S. 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