| Ski For Light
Change your life by
participating in Ski For Light
By Greg Marr There is one undeniable fact about attending a Ski For Light event: it
will forever change your life. Whether as a visually or mobility impaired participant, or as a guide, no one comes away the same as when they arrived. Jeff Pagels knows this. He's seen, firsthand, the reaction of newly trained guides and first-time participants.
| Helping at a Ski For Light event is rewarding for both the guides and the skiers! |
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"The beginners are elated. They're going around thanking their guides and the guides are saying, 'No, no. I want to thank you.' For the participants, it's often the thrill of being given a new physical activity. For the guides, who have taken for granted their abilities, it's a new perception of what it's like to be impaired."
Pagels has known this feeling from both points of view. As a mobility impaired athlete, he has been aided by guides while literally pulling
himself up mountains and sit-skiing the American Birkebeiner. As a sit-skier, he has won gold at the disabled Olympics. He now uses his abilities, knowledge and talents to guide visually-impaired athletes.
Midwest skiers will have a somewhat rare opportunity to participate in a major Ski For Light event Jan. 21-28, when the annual Ski For Light International comes to the Reforestation Camp Ski Area near Green Bay, Wis. Expected to attend are over 100 visually impaired
people and 10 to 15 mobility impaired. An equal number of guides and other volunteers will also be on hand.
Ski for Light, an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization, gives visually and mobility impaired adults the chance to experience activities like cross country skiing and sled hockey. At Ski for Light, disabled and able-bodied people join together in a one-on-one partnership to learn from each other through physically demanding activities.
The purpose of the January event in Green Bay is twofold: one is to bring together visually and mobility impaired people in a rewarding physical activity; the other is to recruit more guides.
As an all-volunteer organization, meeting the demand for guides always proves challenging and this year is no exception. To be a guide, no experience with visually or mobility impaired people is necessary. For those
who are confident on skis, SFL holds an intensive one-day training session with seasoned skiers and guides. Both skiers and guides play an equal part in the program.
Pagels says the reaction of some of the impaired participants is pure joy at discovering they can do something they never thought possible or, in a case like Pagels', return to a favorite activity after an accident.
"SFL opens new doors to physical fitness for wheelchair users," Pagels says. "Cross country skiers, able or disabled, consistently show the highest aerobic capacities and capability for improved endurance than any other type of athlete."
At Ski for Light, the impaired skier is matched with an experienced, sighted cross country skier for the week. They ski together both mornings and afternoons from Monday through Saturday. Beginning skiers
are taught the basics of the sport; those who have skied before work on improving their skills or just enjoy themselves on the snow.
An SFL event is more than just learning to ski, sled or guide – these are social events as well.
"Almost continuous activities are offered for those who think sleep is something to catch up on the flight home," says Pagels. "There are live bands, DJ's, special interest sessions about everything from wheelchair
dancing to speaking Norwegian. There are hot tub meetings and great food."
As the name suggests, this is truly an international event. SFL is modeled after the Ridderrenn, an international event held in Beitostølen, Norway. Every year a delegation of Norwegian skiers and guides attends SFL and SFL sends two skiers and two guides to the Ridderrenn.
In addition to Norway and every corner of the U.S., SFL participants hail from countries such as Australia,
Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. While priority is given to new registrants, it's also common to find both skiers and guides who have participated for many years.
"You'll have a worldwide network of friends after one week at SFL," says Pagels.
"At SFL, people focus on everyone's abilities," says SFL 2001 event chair Judy Dixon, a consumer
relations officer at the Library of Congress. "Through SFL I've made enduring friendships with people of different backgrounds and abilities from all over the world. For me, one of the great things about SFL is that people, whether nondisabled, visually or mobility impaired, are involved at every level of the organization – from participation to decision making."
"Although the activity is cross country skiing, the heart of the program is the people," says SFL president and 18-year guide Nancy McKinney. "It's a partnership. I've met some wonderful people over the years and have developed relationships that I'll have for the rest of my life."
At SFL, the skiers set the pace, asking their guides to assist with skills, technique, endurance or simply
enjoying the outdoors. The week ends in a race/rally and for many skiers the goal is completing the 5K or 10K course, while others compete against the clock for overall and age-group ranking.
Ski For Light also includes skating in sleds for the mobility impaired, fondly referred to as MIBs, in the parlance of SFL (the visually impaired are VIPs). Pagels says the sled hockey games do get competitive.
"The guides are in sleds too. It's an equalizing sport. More guides get hurt than MIPs," he says with a smile.
That Ski For Light brought its international event to Green Bay – it's been seven years since it was last in the Midwest – is a direct result of Pagels, who lives in the area.
"The main reason for wanting to bring the event here is the quality of the skiing. This place is the place I
learned how to ski. For disabled beginner skiers it's about the best and friendliest environment around. Since I did become the fastest sit skier in the world on these trails, the difficulties can be tested by anyone who thinks they are a great skier. But, Ski for Light is a beginner program and most of the trails are going to excite those beginner skiers we want to come to this event."
"We won't have to contend with bitter winds because we are in the woods. The trails are very, very wide, so kissing trees will almost be an impossibility for any skier. We are skiing next to a park with a natural zoo in it, so it will be very common to hear geese crying overhead, wolves howling and the elk bugle. We are going to have a professional waxing team every day to help with waxing skis with the right wax. Folks will
go home with new knowledge about the art of waxing skis. For sled hockey fans, we will have a sheet of ice right at the ski area, so additional travel won't be necessary."
It's easy to get involved in Ski For Light. To find out more about being a guide, contact Brenda Seeger at 507/274-5502 or brenda@sfl.org. Visually impaired skiers can contact Judy Wilkinson at 212/662-9593 or judyw@sfl.org, while mobility impaired skiers can contact Pagels at 920/494-5572 or jeff@sfl.org. SFL also maintains an extensive website (much of the information for this story came from the site), with application forms, at www.sfl.org.
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