by Jon Deden
I am a Colorado native and have been blind since birth. I started skiing when I was 10 years old. Looking back, the only thing I might have done differently would have been to lace up my first ski boots a few years earlier.
I still remember my first ride on the chair lift and my first run down the hill. Of course it was only a bunny slope — but what a wonderful feeling of exhilaration! I knew right then that I had found something very special, and skiing has continued to become more exciting and exhilarating over the years.
When I was 13, winning a regional ski race was a terrific self-esteem builder. Now I am an adult and still some of the most exciting words I hear are, “You are in the middle of the hill and you can go as fast as you want.”
I love to challenge myself in every facet of life and especially enjoy challenging myself physically. For me, there is no better way to do this than to ski down an expert ski trail. If I can ski an expert trail, I can do anything in life. I encourage everyone who is blind to try skiing.
Last year I became aware of a ski program called Foresight Ski Guides. This program has been the best program, overall, I have ever been affiliated with. Foresight Ski Guides operates at Vail, Colo., which is probably the number-one ski resort in America. The Foresight ski guides are some of the best I have ever run across in my 31 years of skiing. The way I was treated by everyone in the program was just top notch, and today is your lucky day because Foresight Ski Guides is looking for blind skiers.
Cost? Just an affordable $50 tax-deductible contribution to Foresight Ski Guides will get you five days on the slopes with a lift ticket, a guide, equipment rental and transportation and lodging assistance. All you need to do to get started is contact Mark Davis, founder and president of Foresight Ski Guides, at (303) 860-0972, toll-free (866) 860-0972, fax (303) 894-9383, e- mail [email protected] or online at www.foresightskiguides.org. Don’t miss this great opportunity!