The History of W.A.S.

Wintergreen Adaptive Sports (WAS) began in 1984 when Vince Fiore, an adult amputee, received his first ski lesson from Michael Zuckerman, a ski instructor at Wintergreen Resort.  Untrained in adaptive ski methods, but inspired by his experience with Mr. Fiore, Michael Zuckerman attended his first “Learn to Ski” clinic for individuals with disabilities at the Jack Frost Ski Area in Pennsylvania.

Over the next decade, more than 200 students with a disability received instruction at Wintergreen from Mr. Zuckerman on equipment fabricated or acquired to meet the need of a wide array of disabilities. In 1995, increasing demand for adaptive ski instruction, coupled with a decision by Wintergreen management to open the slopes to “sit down” skiers, led to the creation of the first volunteer instructional force.  Over 40 full day private lessons were given that year and seven enthusiastic volunteers were recruited for the next.  The summer of 1996, WAS incorporated in the state of Virginia and achieved non-profit 501©3 status with its chapter membership in Disabled Sports/USA, the largest sports and recreation organization for individuals with disabilities in the United States.

By 2010, over 1250 students from a tri-state area had been introduced to outdoor sports.  Our students included deaf or blind children, teens with autism and other cognitive disorders, adults recovering from disease or injury, paraplegics, quadriplegics, and wounded veterans from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. By now, in our 17th season over 3000 adaptive snow sport lessons have been given and more than 375 volunteer instructors have trained and worked with the program.

In 2005 WAS initiated its first-ever Wounded Warrior Learn to Ski and Snowboard Weekend. In 2011, between 25 and 30 of our injured military heroes are expected to participate in our 7th annual event. A slope-side cottage was constructed in 2000, expanded in 2005, and in 2008 a boat storage building was constructed, next to Wintergreen’s Lake Monocan, to house the growing inventory for our canoeing and kayaking program. Our boating program, completed its fourth year of operation in 2009 with 12 days of boating instruction and over 30 volunteer instructors. A Wounded Warrior Golf Program was begun in 2009 and our 2nd annual event was held in July, 2010 at Kingsmill Resort. Another Golf weekend will be held in September, 2010.

Unique to Wintergreen Adaptive Sports is the character of the volunteer instructor corps.  As a public high school teacher, Mr. Zuckerman saw the potential of enlisting his students as volunteers, giving able bodied young people the opportunity and training to work with individuals with a disability.  Now, some of our young adaptive students have “graduated” and become junior instructors themselves.  This union between the adaptive ski program and local high school students—perhaps the only such partnership throughout adaptive programs nationwide—has become the mainstay of the WAS experience, encouraging the habits of volunteerism and civic responsibility, as well as human empathy, in growing numbers of young people.

The adult and/or professional volunteer corps at Wintergreen is also carefully selected and cultivated.  Many individuals involved in the program bring their professional experience in related fields to bear on their work with the disabled skiers, enriching the therapeutic experience.  Among our adult instructors are   rehabilitative and orthopedic physicians, neurologists, occupational and physical therapists, teachers, psychologists and carpenters. WAS supports and encourages the volunteer staff—both junior and senior—to pursue professional accreditation through PSIA, AASI and the ACA.  As a result, we have a large number of instructors with professional certification in Adaptive Skiing  and Snowboarding techniques and whitewater kayaking and canoeing.

WAS is proud of its steady growth. Wintergreen Resort provides WAS with lift tickets, rental equipment, and use of its facilities. New in 2009 was our very own, WAS Adapt-A-Privy, our own mobile wheelchair accessible “Port-a-Potty” which will be in use at both our summer and winter venues. This Adapt-a-Privy is the result of a collaboration between Wintergreen Resort, individual donors and granting organizations.

WAS provides Wintergreen and the entire Wintergreen community with shrieks of joy, smiles of gratitude and lots and lots of hugs. We look forward to future years of forging friendship between those with disabilities and those we jokingly refer to as “normal”.