Breckenridge 2009 trip 6-13 December

My first ever experience skiing was at the Breckenridge Ski Spectacular 2008. Coming to these events allows me the hone my ability and provides an opportunity to participate in activities I have limited experience in. This blog entry is my thoughts, feelings and ideas about this “ski spectacular.”

The purpose of these trips is to apply recreational activities and lessons to each participant. My goals and aims were to be sociable and attempt new things and progress in events I’ve previously attempted.

Nicola and I arrived at the hospital to meet the entire Group (my rehab group) at 6 a.m. on Sunday, the 6th of December. It was an early start, and a long day travelling to Colorado. We got into Denver around 1pm, then took a bus up to Breckenridge to out Ski resort. Before we could collapse into our rooms, we then had to get fitted out in our ski equipment. We were all pretty tired, and the day was still not over. That evening we attended the Opening Gala of the event. There were a few speakers that preceded the dinner. It was hard to believe that it has been a year since we last attended. It was well organized and well attended by people of various disability levels. It was good for me to see all of the various circumstances of attendance to the ski event- it's always very inspiring.

Unfortunately, later that night I succumbed to a severe case of “altitude sickness”. It was a very unpleasant feeling as I vomited everything I consumed. Because I was vomiting, I quickly suffered headaches and general nausea. I was then taken to a hospital nearby and was given oxygen. The headaches then abated due to the extra oxygen and I also consumed massive amounts of liquid in the form or water and Gatorade. It was definitely not one of my finest moments. This event felt strangely akin to my previous instances confined to a hospital. I then was equipped with a nasal mask. It was a tube that rested beneath my nostrils. It helped me a lot coping with my discomfort- my O2 saturation had dropped to 77% (which is low).

I was both hopeful and disappointed as I faced the likelihood of not being able to participate in the ski event. I was disappointed because I was feeling not up to par. I really wanted to attempt to ski because I really enjoyed it. After a day of rest and being hooked up to an oxygen supply for 24 hours I felt good enough to participate in the snow events, so I tried my luck on the slopes. I performed fairly well and surpassed my expectations. I was able to maintain balance and speed on most of the runs. I found that I was more confident in my skiing and was able to enjoy the sport with a newfound optimism. I enjoyed being able to work with my instructor from the previous year. He was able to gauge my challenges in skiing and instruct me on the proper technique. I was more comfortable with the skiing because I was able to attend a private tuition in Alpine Meadows at the beginning of the year. I found myself more confident and decisive in my actions while skiing. I really enjoyed the sport and was able to find a sense of accomplishment while doing it.



The next day, I was able to ski again with Nicola and Scott (my instructor). I skied really well and I was quick and able to control my movements independently. I realized that all of my hard work, and with the tutelage of Scott, I was able to overcome my fears and just ski, without distraction or fear. I really enjoy skiing and beginning to realize that I have only attempted to ski on only two separate occasions. If I persist with the sport, I’ll probably improve. Perhaps, skiing may be a lifetime hobby.

Being able to try new things and being able to ski has helped me in overcoming multiple fears. I have always been terrified of heights and traveling downhill without proper control of the situation. It has been a good experience being able to conquer a fear I have had for my entire life. Especially attempting a new sport and enjoying the experience. It means even more because I am able to overcome several elements. I found it challenging overcoming the altitude sickness and adapting to an experience which provided novel opportunities and challenges. Growing up in sunny southern California and being stationed in Hawaii where I deployed to sunny Iraq, this frigid cold was unfamiliar to me. Couple that with trying out a new unfamiliar sport and a serious head injury.

During the evenings, we ate supper at a few local restaurants. The town of Breckenridge was laid back and relaxed. Often times, there was a snowboarding culture (of which I was unfamiliar with. Throughout this trip, I was able to bond with my comrades and share enjoyable moments with them. Previous to the trip, I was unfamiliar with the new patients in the unit. But the trip allowed me to befriend new people and go outside my comfort zone to seek camaraderie and friendship. Thursday was “casino night” at the ski resort. Upon entering, we were allotted two-thousand units of "currency". I remember that last year, I won a lot of those faux monies (kind of like VA ‘bingo bucks’), and I got a lot of raffle tickets. So my strategy was to bet as much as I was comfortable risking. After about a half of an hour or less, I was pleading with my wife for more funds. But alas, the luck was not with us (me) so we retreated upstairs, none the richer or wiser.

The next day I was able to ski again. This time, we practiced a few runs preparing for the race on Saturday. Last year, during this ski event, I missed the race because I was not ready for it. My skiing ability was mediocre and my confidence for skiing was weak. So I was a lot more guarded in my skiing ability. I worked with Scott on some of the turns and maneuvers contained during the race. In my mind, I wanted to run the race, but I understood the risks and the rationale for Scott’s decision. I agreed with that as I worried about not being able to react in time and not seeing everything in the course. It was a bit disheartening but I saw his point.

In the evening, we went to another local dining establishment named “Spencers”. Here, I ate “shrimp po’ boy. It was a dish containing spicy shrimp with rice. I really enjoyed this meal. After, Nicola, James (another PTRP patient), and his wife Cherie, played board games. These games were difficult for me because the rules of these games were confusing to me. I then got the hang of some of the patterns in playing them. After, we attended a karaoke event located in an eatery. The noise of this ruckus was violently loud. I was beginning to get a headache due to the volume. We stayed in the bar for about a half of an hour. I was distracting myself from the loud music by watching a basketball game on the television.

During the course of our trip, we crossed paths with a group of young British servicemen. They were all heavily disabled but very friendly. They assumed the moniker of BLESMA(which stood for British Limbless Ex Servicemens Association) Netta often tells me that the wounded British servicemen were not looked after at all. I was pleased that they were allowed to attend functions like this and would like to have more interaction between us wounded veterans. I’m glad we got a chance to attend this function and interacted with injured servicemen from different countries. Because here in America, we often forget the sacrifice made by of other nations in “our” war on terrorism.

On the last day we got to relax and go into town to look at the shops. It was a nice way to unwind from the busy week we had just had. In the evening there was a grand closing banquet, where many people connected to the USA Disabled Olympic team were honored. May had won several gold medals at numerous Winter Olympics. We then left early the next morning and headed to the airport. During the previous trip, we got snowed in and were delayed by 11 hours. Thankfully this time we were pretty much to time, though the plane was extremely uncomfortable. And despite the bad start to the trip due to my altitude sickness, I thoroughly enjoyed this iteration of the ski trip and was really grateful to have had the opportunity to go. After we arrived in the bay area, Nicola and I went to eat dinner. We ate soup noodle at a restaurant, which was nice and hot and soothing to our souls. It was a nice end to a great week.