Disabled Skiers' Plans

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 2, 9 June 1987, Page 3

Disabled Skiers' Plans

The New Zealand Association for Disabled Skiers held its Annual meeting in Christchurch recently. The Association was formed ten years ago to promote skiing as a competitive and recreational sport for disabled people. Since then the organisation has developed in many directions. These include a Certified

Instructors Course for teaching disabled skiers and new technology enabling paraplegics to ski by sitting in a sled. A representative ski team has competed successfully at international events since 1982. The next major international event is the 1988 4th World Winter Games for the Disabled. This event will be held in Innsbruck, Austria, 17-24 January. A squad is presently in training for this event.

They are Viv Martin (partially sighted) Auckland, Ed Bickerstaff (arm amputee) Queenstown, Patrick Cooper (below knee amputee) Ohakune, Mark Edwards (Spina Bifeda) Cltristchurch, Daryl Gill (Cerebral Palsy) Dunedin and newcomer Nick Bailey (arm amputee) Christchurch. A highlight of the season's training calendar will be a three week visit by members of the United States Disabled Ski team, July 16-August 7. During their stay, the visitors will hold a race camp at Cardrona near Wanaka. New Zealand Squad members have been invited to take part. In addition, the Salomon National Disabled Skiers Championships will be held at Mt Hutt from September 14-18. The National team will be named following this event.