Calgarian Kurt Oatway has reached what many would consider the apex of competitive para-alpine skiing — he won a gold medal for Canada at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.
A skier since childhood, Oatway, now 40, had an accident in 2007 that left him with a spinal cord injury. In 2010, watching the Vancouver Winter Paralympics inspired him to return to the ski hill and try sit skiing. He didn’t set out with competition in mind, but, by 2011, he was racing at the Canada Winter Games.
Para-skiing has grown in popularity since Oatway’s first Paralympics in 2014, as more people learn about the thrills, intensity and badassery of adaptive snowsports. “We not only have people who are in wheelchairs or missing a limb competing, but also legally blind people who ski faster than some people drive,” says Oatway.
His advice for beginners is not to focus too much on what others are doing. “Everyone’s disability is
different, so what works for one person may not work for others,” Oatway says. “So, keep trying different ways until you get it.”