Hitting the Slopes --No Holds Barred

Disabilities ranging from blindness to loss of a limb needn’t keep one off the slopes in California, where two nonprofit schools, aided by volunteer vacationers, teach special ski techniques.

The oldest, founded in 1967, is the Tahoe Adaptive Ski School at Alpine Meadows at Lake Tahoe. Each year, it trains 500 to 600 skiers with physical, mental or emotional disabilities, using equipment such as ski-mounted bucket seats and ski poles that act as brakes. About 100 volunteers augment 40 paid staff members.

The speed is a special thrill for those on crutches or wheelchairs, for whom “gravity is often a foe --until you hit the hill,” says Katherine Hayes Rodriguez, program director. Private lessons are $40 for 2 1/2 hours; group lessons and packages are available. To take a class or train as a volunteer teacher, call (916) 581-4161.

The 9-year-old California Adaptive Ski School, which operates at Bear Mountain Ski Resort, teaches about 850 students each year with 10 paid staff and 200 volunteers, according to Executive Director KelLe Malkewitz. Private adult lessons are $50 for half a day, $75 for a full day. Volunteer training sessions are full, but participants are still needed for the school’s seventh annual Ski-a-Thon Feb. 22. Information: (909) 585-2519, Ext. 269.