The 18th Annual Hartford Ski Spectacular wrapped up last weekend at the Beaver Run Resort and the Breckenridge Ski Area, Breckenridge, Colorado. The event is conducted each year by Disabled Sports USA, Rockville, Maryland, and sponsored by The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., the founding sponsor of the US Paralympics. More than 600 disabled participants, including more than 50 American soldiers and marines injured in conflict abroad, spent December 4 to 11 in Breckenridge taking part in ski and snowboard lessons and clinics."Since 1967, Disabled Sports USA's mission has been to promote sports as an important aspect of rehabilitation. The Hartford Ski Spectacular allows participants the opportunity to test their limitations and then surpass them," said Kirk Bauer, executive director of DS/USA and a disabled Vietnam veteran. "It has been a great feeling, for the past 18 years, to watch disabled people from all walks of liferegain their confidence on the slopes and enjoy a sport that they love, or in some cases, to experience the exhilaration of snow sports for the very first time."The soldiers attended as part of the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project conducted by The Wounded Warrior Project and Disabled Sports USA. Members of the US Paralympic Team were available throughout the week providing support and advice to all participants. The Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project, working with Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), Washington DC, and Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, provides sports rehabilitation programs for service members injured in the line of duty; and, thanks to donors, provides participation in sports events to participants free of charge.The event also featured the season's first Paralympic qualifying race for the US Disabled Ski Team. Forty-eight racers competed in the first qualifying slalom for the 2006 Paralympics to be held in Torino, Italy, in March 2006.
The 18th Annual Hartford Ski Spectacular wrapped up last weekend at the Beaver Run Resort and the Breckenridge Ski Area, Breckenridge, Colorado. The event is conducted each year by Disabled Sports USA, Rockville, Maryland, and sponsored by The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., the founding sponsor of the US Paralympics. More than 600 disabled participants, including more than 50 American soldiers and marines injured in conflict abroad, spent December 4 to 11 in Breckenridge taking part in ski and snowboard lessons and clinics."Since 1967, Disabled Sports USA's mission has been to promote sports as an important aspect of rehabilitation. The Hartford Ski Spectacular allows participants the opportunity to test their limitations and then surpass them," said Kirk Bauer, executive director of DS/USA and a disabled Vietnam veteran. "It has been a great feeling, for the past 18 years, to watch disabled people from all walks of liferegain their confidence on the slopes and enjoy a sport that they love, or in some cases, to experience the exhilaration of snow sports for the very first time."The soldiers attended as part of the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project conducted by The Wounded Warrior Project and Disabled Sports USA. Members of the US Paralympic Team were available throughout the week providing support and advice to all participants. The Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project, working with Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), Washington DC, and Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, provides sports rehabilitation programs for service members injured in the line of duty; and, thanks to donors, provides participation in sports events to participants free of charge.The event also featured the season's first Paralympic qualifying race for the US Disabled Ski Team. Forty-eight racers competed in the first qualifying slalom for the 2006 Paralympics to be held in Torino, Italy, in March 2006.