AAS Sweeps Snowboard Medals

Adaptive Action Sports (AAS), a California-based nonprofit that promotes opportunities in action sports, art, and music for physically disabled individuals, assembled a team of 11 athletes to compete in a new adaptive division of the United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) Nationals. The five-day competition was held March 25-April 1 at Northstar Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

In past years, few adaptive athletes have participated at the Nationals competition, AAS noted. "This season, working with USASA and its Executive Director Tom Collins, AAS was instrumental in the USASA Nationals being not only the largest able-bodied competition in the world but also the world's largest 'adaptive' snowboard competition," ASA declared. "The result is a huge step forward for Adaptive Action Sports and the adaptive snowboarding community."

Sporting AAS sweatshirts and marching behind a huge AAS banner, the 11-person adaptive team led the opening ceremony parade. Over the next five days, the team participated in giant slalom, slalom, slopestyle, boardercross, and halfpipe competitions. With riders like David Hunter, who is nearly 100 percent blind, tearing up the halfpipe and winning gold in the adaptive snowboard division, the AAS team was one to watch. The team swept the adaptive medal stand, boasting five gold, five silver, and five bronze medals at the end of the week.

Dutch amputee Bibian Mentel was crowned women's overall adaptive champion, and Canadian Tyler Mosher took overall for men. Adaptive Action Sport's co-founder and bilateral amputee Amy Purdy took home second place overall and proved her skills with two silver medals and one bronze medal. Pam Eberly took home a women's bronze overall medal, while Buddy Elias and Thomas Wolfetook brought home silver and bronze in men's overall.

Several adaptive riders who were new to the Nationals experience participated on the AAS team. They included Nicole Roundy, Oscar Olguin, Thomas Wolfe, Buddy Elias, and Chad Crittenden. These new riders drew on the experience of seasoned riders like Lucas Grossi and Thayne Mahler. By the end of the week, all 11 of the AAS team members had stood on a podium--a remarkable achievement.

The week's success was heightened by a strong Adaptive Action Sports sponsor list. These sponsors include Drop Gloves, Anarchy Goggles, Mervin-Mfg or Lib-Tech/Gnu/Roxy Snowboards, It's All Downhill Snowboard Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada, and College Park Industries. All contributed to a swag bag including a Mervin snowboard for each athlete.

Adaptive Action Sports is currently working hard to attend the Extremity Games TM by College Park, the first-ever extreme sports competition designed especially for individuals with limb loss, the organization said. The Games are scheduled for July 28-30 in Orlando, Florida. More information on the games can be found at www.extremitygames.com

As a nonprofit, Adaptive Action Sports relies on the generosity of others to reach its goals, AAS noted. For more information, visit www.adaptiveactionsports.org or www.adacs.org , or contact either of the two co-founders and executive directors: Amy Purdy, 702.683.6218; or Daniel Gale, 619.770.0240.

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