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Show Handicapped Skiers Find a Home on Park City Runs IlliS iitiii i- . - .. - -j - I ? " " S ' v - " "1 :! ' v :. . ; J I " " ' ' 1 I v - . w. ; 1 J fe. ,.v .-. .-. T. .": . ' .. . '" .. .r .. .... -v n.. XA,.-.'.; Park City has seen a lot of groups on its slopes this season, but possibly none is as inspiring as the one that came to town this week. They are some 50 amputee skiers here for a week of clinics, free skiing and racing sponsored by an eastern organization that goes by the saying "Confidence Through Sports." The skiers are here because be-cause the 52 Association, backed with funds by the Southland Corporation (7-11 stores), won't let anybody who has been seriously injured sit back and do nothing, if it can help it. The amputee skiers who are winding their way down Park City ski area runs are living proof that people who lose limbs are not out of the action. There is Allen Hayes, injured in Vietnam, who has lost both of his legs near the knee and has two severe hand injuries. Hayes won three medals in the World Handicapped Ski Championships in Leysin, Switzerland - two golds and a bronze to become the 1981 world handicapped ski champion. amputee, and is a teacher of beginning amputee skiers. He spent much of Tuesday helping first-timer Dale By-ington By-ington of Ogden, who heard about the handicapped ski week through Steve Peterson, Peter-son, the founder of the Utah Handicapped Skiers Association Associa-tion nine years ago. i . Up on the mountain, ; 15-year-old Mark D'Amico was blowing by skiers with effortless athletic ability. j D'Amico, who skis on one ski, uses standard poles and ! attacks the mountain with his eyes on the fall line. Throughout the day, scor- es of the 52 Association skiers were stretched across the mountain . learning and free skiing. All were having fun. "We see what can happen when a person who has lost a leg comes out and learns to ski and it's wonderful," said Eleanor Bizzarro of the 52 Association. She said the association, which was originally founded by 52 New York businessmen to aid wounded World War II veterans, has been prodding the handicapped into sports for years. The skiing program, headed head-ed by Jack Frost, Pa., ski pro Dave Fowler, was started nine years, ago when he Smooth and fast: 1981 world handicapped ski champion Allen Hayes. tains. Fowler says amputees are fast learners. Bizzarro says, once they find out they can do something like skiing, they become considerably more confident. Besides the Park City week, which is paid for completely by the 52 Association Asso-ciation with the 7-11 funds and is open to any handicapped handicap-ped skier, the organization hosts several other ski meets v. in California and on the east coast. On Tuesday the skiers were priming for a Thursday race, with race practice . scheduled for Wednesday. One of the unique aspects of handicapped racing is that men and women compete on an equal basis, a far cry from the rigidly divided men's women's competition in other racing. The association was teaching teach-ing it's clinics at the bottom of the mountain and on Payday, as, well as having guided free skiing tours of the entire resort throughout the week. Hayes, 36, is what is known as a "four track" skier, a person wiio skis with outrigger poles, two skis and their prosthetic. devices on. , And Hayes is fast. On Park City's upper slopes Tuesday, he easily cruised past skiers during several runs. " And there is Bill Demby from the Washington, D.C. area. Demby is also a double wmumtiHmmtmm- jh liftiiiliAWliwmnMlllMmwil mini i spotted a group ot amputee skiers at that mountain.' -Fowler, an amputee himself, him-self, is a full-time instructor at Jack Frost. In the summer, he serves as the assistant golf, pro at the resort in the Pocono Moun- Illlilllf m f&m fiillllilMMiillf . I iiiiiiw fsf w tmimmsmmmf 'fj , , f II .- m s s " v ! ! ' , i:- -Vv.- - - i- (i . r- if-1 ! tp - nlA ' : ) I !i " '; - V J V- . ( . 4 i i c-s s s j ji - . . x x - i - I . 1- ?s y , v The first time: Dale gets underway. Bill Demby right gives Dale Byington middle help while friends look on. |
