Exploring our Australian Winter while having fun just like everyone else!
Whizzing down a mountain, top speed, swerving and dodging people in your path, laughing your head off, feeling like you are actually achieving in a sport… If you are currently reading these words while sitting in your wheelchair or have any disability, just wishing that you can properly participate in a sport, any sport, even just at school or with your friends, I think it’s time you need to know that there’s a sport you can participate in where you have complete control over your own rate of participation and development. And that sport is sit skiing!
Personally, I have been lucky enough to experience sit skiing almost every year since I was about eight years old and I can easily say it has become my number one passion in life. Of course I can easily say this year was DEFINITELY no different when I was very lucky to have an amazing trip away with one of my great friends and top carers Alison from Australian Unity. We really did have an absolute ball. Like any other girls road trip ours was absolutely chock-a-block with laughter, fun, adventure and catching up and spending time with both of our friends and family all over the Snowy Mountains. Of course, amongst all this there was one event that both me and Alison loved the most and that was skiing!
Now, like any other trip ours officially started a few weeks beforehand when we kicked off this trip of course with planning. Having planned many trips down to Jindy before we were lucky enough to instantly know where to go first and that was our accommodation. For us, this had to be our favourite spot for the last three years Siesta Villa. I guess the main reason why we were so sure of the accommodation was that we had previously stayed there for three years in a row. This is because we found that Siesta Villa was the perfect place, having a fully wheelchair accessible room, fully accessible amazing onsite restaurant and incredible laidback staff.
Our next, and definitely really the most important step was to arrange my sit ski hire and volunteer guide. To do this the very first thing I always do is to renew my membership with Disabled Wintersports Australia, this thankfully, is only $85 a year which allows you access to a range of equipment and the absolute most amazing volunteer guides you will ever meet. For us, we started planning this about three weeks in advance, starting with booking out a sit ski and awesome guide. To do this we simply went in to the DWA website and filled out the two forms, one for equipment and one for my volunteer guide. After these weeks of planning it was finally time to ski!! And it was definitely worth everything!!!
I guess the reason why I love this so much is because personally I feel that it allows me to really be a part of a proper recreational sport and know I am properly participating in my role in it while I turn the sit ski around corners.
So why don’t you check it out for yourself!!
See this for more information