Grants help adaptive ski program
By Melinda Dudley - The Steamboat Pilot & Today
Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Training Adaptive Recreational Sports program is gearing up for its second ski season with the help of $23,000 in grants and gifts recently awarded by the Steamboat Springs Rotary Club.
The STARS nonprofit organization was founded in Steamboat Springs in 2006 to help provide recreational activities for people with disabilities and is looking to expand its reach and impact, including taking over day-to-day operations of the adaptive ski program at the Steamboat Ski Area.
“We’re trying to provide opportunity, and we do that through scholarships for those in need,” STARS board president Jim Schneider said.
STARS originally appealed to the local Rotary Club two years ago for assistance in purchasing monoski equipment, said Sandy Evans Hall, president of the Rotary Club. A monoski is an adaptive skiing device, primarily for use by people with limited use of their legs.
“The ski area itself doesn’t have a whole lot of equipment, so most of the money we’re getting from Rotary is going toward equipment so we can meet more demand,” Schneider said.
Last year, Steamboat Springs hosted 110 members of the International Skiing Fellowship of Rotarians, a worldwide activity interest group for Rotary members. The fellowship raised some of the money for the STARS grant through the Davis Boyd Memorial Fund, which was developed to assist skiers with physical disabilities.
“In each community they go to, they raise funds as part of their trip to that community,” Evans Hall said of the International Skiing Fellowship of Rotarians.
STARS works closely with Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. and its adaptive ski program and hopes to expand its model in the future to resorts at Winter Park, Crested Butte and Aspen.
Although currently focused on adaptive skiing, STARS also would like to expand its winter opportunities to include snowmobiling and sled hockey and offer year-round recreation opportunities such as mountain biking, tennis, horseback riding and fishing.
Formerly operated through the Steamboat Ski and Snowboard School, the STARS program will be run by a corps of volunteers during the upcoming season.
“We’re going to be really gearing up our winter program, which is ski lessons in particular. We’re going to need volunteers to go out with instructors and help with the lessons,” STARS board member Craig Kennedy said. “We need as many bodies as we can.”
Volunteers will receive training both in the classroom and on the mountain and can earn lift tickets and even a free season pass, depending on how many hours they earn. Experience is not necessary.
STARS will hold an informational meeting for people interested in becoming volunteers at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Round-Up Room in the Gondola Building at the base of the ski area.
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/nov/23/grants_help_adaptive...
Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Training Adaptive Recreational Sports program is gearing up for its second ski season with the help of $23,000 in grants and gifts recently awarded by the Steamboat Springs Rotary Club.
The STARS nonprofit organization was founded in Steamboat Springs in 2006 to help provide recreational activities for people with disabilities and is looking to expand its reach and impact, including taking over day-to-day operations of the adaptive ski program at the Steamboat Ski Area.
“We’re trying to provide opportunity, and we do that through scholarships for those in need,” STARS board president Jim Schneider said.
STARS originally appealed to the local Rotary Club two years ago for assistance in purchasing monoski equipment, said Sandy Evans Hall, president of the Rotary Club. A monoski is an adaptive skiing device, primarily for use by people with limited use of their legs.
“The ski area itself doesn’t have a whole lot of equipment, so most of the money we’re getting from Rotary is going toward equipment so we can meet more demand,” Schneider said.
Last year, Steamboat Springs hosted 110 members of the International Skiing Fellowship of Rotarians, a worldwide activity interest group for Rotary members. The fellowship raised some of the money for the STARS grant through the Davis Boyd Memorial Fund, which was developed to assist skiers with physical disabilities.
“In each community they go to, they raise funds as part of their trip to that community,” Evans Hall said of the International Skiing Fellowship of Rotarians.
STARS works closely with Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. and its adaptive ski program and hopes to expand its model in the future to resorts at Winter Park, Crested Butte and Aspen.
Although currently focused on adaptive skiing, STARS also would like to expand its winter opportunities to include snowmobiling and sled hockey and offer year-round recreation opportunities such as mountain biking, tennis, horseback riding and fishing.
Formerly operated through the Steamboat Ski and Snowboard School, the STARS program will be run by a corps of volunteers during the upcoming season.
“We’re going to be really gearing up our winter program, which is ski lessons in particular. We’re going to need volunteers to go out with instructors and help with the lessons,” STARS board member Craig Kennedy said. “We need as many bodies as we can.”
Volunteers will receive training both in the classroom and on the mountain and can earn lift tickets and even a free season pass, depending on how many hours they earn. Experience is not necessary.
STARS will hold an informational meeting for people interested in becoming volunteers at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Round-Up Room in the Gondola Building at the base of the ski area.
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/nov/23/grants_help_adaptive...
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