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Special Olympics Ski Racing - The Dream and the Plan

So the BC Special Olympic Provincial Winter Games are now over - Cory's second competition ever, and he wins 3 bronze medals in the top Advanced level. With the medals around his neck, he picked one up and with a slightly disappointed look on his face said to me "this probably isn't enough to get me to the Nationals, is it?"



Now it takes a few weeks for the final results to be announced, but he was right. It wasn't enough to get him the the Special Olympics National Winter Games in Quebec City in February 2008.



But he had accomplished a lot - he had set a goal for himself to be good enough to make it to the top Advanced level (there are 2 or 3 divisions within Advanced), and he had done that. And he beat all but 2 of the racers in that division. And you can tell from the photos taken during the medal presentation just how pleased and proud he was.




So a night or two later, during dinner with me and his mum, Cory started talking about having met the gold medallist that it would be great to be a gold medallist too and go to the nationals and maybe even the world championships. And that was the beginning of the dream.

That night, we started working on a plan, what it would take to put Cory in the best position to win gold at the next Special Olympics BC Provincial Winter Games in 2011, and represent BC at the National Games in 2012, and maybe even represent Canada at the World Games in 2013.


Together, we've identified 4 areas to work on: weight and fitness training, better equipment, better coaching, and more race experience. And while he missed gold in Super G by just 62/100ths of a second, he missed gold by over 2 seconds in Slalom, and nearly 3 seconds in Giant Slalom - so there is a lot of work to be done if he is to get to the top of the podium in 2011.

Next up, putting the plan into action: the search for better coaching leads to Mount Hood, Oregon in July 2007.

Special Olympics Ski Racing, BC Provincial Games, February 2007, continued

So after the first day, 2 podiums, with a bronze medal in Super G and Giant Slalom. And just like in the World Cup, races are won and lost on fractions of a second. In the Super G, Cory missed Silver by 1/10 of a second, and gold by only 6/10 of a second.


So now onto the Slalom on the second day of competition. Another beautifully perfect day weather-wise, blue skies & warm - nearly 20 degrees C, by mid-afternoon on the ski hill.





I mentioned earlier that athletes have little contact with their family and friends during competition, but since I also ski, it does put me at least in the same area. The slalom combines the skiers' results from 2 runs through the course. The time of each run is posted manually on a small board, so the skiers do not actually know where they stand at the end of the first run.



Fortunately, spectators can view the board, and after the first run, I realized Cory was in fourth place and I knew he would be disappointed with that after two bronze medals in the previous races.


So, not being allowed to speak with him, I was able to stand next to him after he had finished his first run, and I was able to tell him he was in fourth place - I could see in his face that he was not pleased with that result. We had a very brief discussion and he realized that in the second run, he had to really go for it, even if he fell and was disqualified, since he really wanted another podium finish.



For the second run, he was the first of his group of 6 skiers to race, so once his time was posted I was able to do the mental math to determine what times each of the other skiers needed to post in order to beat Cory.


I knew that moving up from 4th to 1st was rather unrealistic, but I was sure hoping to he'd get up to 3rd, so I checked the time for the 1st run for the 3rd place finisher and realized that he needed to post a time of 31.62 seconds to beat Cory for 3rd.


Once that skier had completed his run, I stood by the scoreboard and waited for the scorekeeper to post the time. A few tense moments ticked by and then she came up to the board and started writing:


"3"


(ok that's a given),


then a "1"


(oh no what will the next digit be, less than 6 and he won't make it)


and then ...


a 9, and a 8!!





31.98...Not fast enough to beat Cory - so it's another bronze medal !! By 36/100ths of a second!


(there was an error during the medal presentation - Cory, as the bronze
medallist should be on the right, not on the left)





So he proved he's got some real competitive "heart" - realizing that he really had to go for it in the second run, even if it meant falling and a disqualification. If he couldn't get to the podium, he felt that a disqualification was no worse than a 4th place finish.



And he proved that not only could he ski with the "big boys", but now he was actually one of them.



Just a fabulous weekend for him and for his mum and dad.



Cory had the opportunity to meet with the athlete that won gold and we found him to be very gracious in victory. It turns out that he is a former world champion, having represented Canada at the Alaska World Games in 2001, and won gold in the downhill. So Cory was now even more pleased that he came that close to beating a world champion.



And so begins the dream...

Special Olympics Ski Racing, BC Provincial Games, February 2007, continued

So now it's race time. The Special Olympics Provincial Winter Games are also a qualifier for the National Games. There's a rather complicated system to determine who qualifies, but basically it's done by age group, with skiers racing against others of similar ability. But just like any other sports competition, it's best to just go out there and do the best you can and see what happens.


But Cory definitely had his sights set on a trip to the National Games in 2008 in Quebec City. Now, in his previous race, I mentioned that he was placed in the Novice group, much to his dismay. This time we were told that each racer would ski a "trial" Giant Slalom run, and the times would then be used to determine what level each racer would enter: Novice, Intermediate, or Advanced. Cory really wanted to race with the "big boys" in advanced, but we also knew that his chances of winning and therefore qualifying for the Nationals were slim in advanced.




So we talked it over, and we decided that Cory would "take it easy" in his first run, and perhaps end up in Intermediate instead of Advanced. Looking back, I realize that was not the right thing to do, not the right thing to teach Cory, and certainly not a fair way to compete. And, as it turned out, it was a lesson well-learned.

In the starting gate...









Based on his times, Cory was placed in the Advanced level, and his time was third best, out of 12 Advanced Skiers. We were very impressed that Cory could not only ski with the "big boys", but could even beat most of them - and he was the youngest of the group, with more than half of the advanced group over 30, heavier, faster skiers.




We knew there would be a second run, but we didn't know that the 2 runs would be added together. Cory actually WON the second run, he beat everyone, but when the times of the 2 runs were added up, he finished 3rd - a Bronze Medal finish!


on his way...







We were elated and he was obviously proud and pleased. But we learned a lesson, and we've talked about it since. From now on, every time Cory races, he will race to win. If he had given it all in the first run, he might have finished first. We'll never really know, but he will never ease up again. Lesson learned the hard way.

On the Podium!






So, then onto the Super G race - this time only one run down the course. Got this one on video, with my commentary...and the announcer got the wrong name, but it's another Bronze Medal!






Back on the podium...


So a very good day...first time racing in Advanced, 2 Bronze Medals. Next day, the slalom...

Special Olympics Ski Racing, BC Provincial Games, February 2007

The Special Olympics BC Winter Games are held every four years and are a qualifier for athletes to progress to the National Winter Games, also held every four years. So Cory is about to participate in his most important races yet.



They were held on Crystal Mountain in Westbank near Kelowna, BC in February 2007. When attending Provincial Games, athletes do not travel with parents or family, they travel together on a bus, and stay together throughout the weekend, sleeping on a school gym floor and eating in the school cafeteria. Parents do not get much time with the athletes at all. So we're not with him to make sure things go ok.



Cory is sometimes a perfectionist - and he can take a lot of time getting ready to go out. He sometimes misplaces things and gets a bit panicky when he can't find it. We were concerned that he would forget an important piece of clothing or equipment that he would need to ski with or he would take a lot of time and perhaps miss the bus from the school to the ski hill. Or something would happen that would bother him, and he wouldn't be focused on his racing.



So not being able to be in touch with him for most of the weekend made us a bit anxious.



We met all the athletes at a rendezvous and they boarded a bus for the 5 hour trip from Vancouver to Kelowna.







Later on, while driving to Kelowna in our car, we caught up to the bus and had a lot of fun honking and waving our purple pom-poms out of our sunroof. (Purple is the colour of the region that Cory represented at the games). We'd pass the bus, stop, pull over and let the bus pass, and do it all over again. We heard later that the athletes laughed and cheered like crazy as we drove by, though Cory thought it was a "little embarrassing".

That night the opening ceremonies were held, with the athletes parading in, and cheering, and generally making a lot of noise and having a lot of fun.






Next, the races begin, a lesson learned, and what a fantastic weekend to be Cory's dad!

Special Olympics Ski Racing - Getting Serious

Ok, so now we know all about Dad's first time on skis, and Cory's had some early success in ski racing. On to the Provincial Games in February 2007.

One of the challenges that Cory faces is the lack of opportunity to race. Special Olympics gives Cory the opportunity to ski regularly throughout the winter, but there's a big difference between skiing and ski racing - think driving to the mall versus Nascar! But there's only one race event per year, and some years there hasn't even been that.

So every Monday night in the winter he skis, but he can only practice racing when weather and snow conditions are good, and the volunteers are willing to build a course. So last winter, leading up to the Provincial Games, we started making some noise about needing more opportunity to ski through a race course. That "noise" created a lot of conflict with the volunteers, but lo and behold, we had a race course set up on many nights last winter. We all know that sometimes you just have to be a pain in someone's you-know-what to get action. And I was prepared to be just that pain to get Cory more experience.

We also started looking around for race courses that are available to the public. We found one on Big White near Kelowna - about a 5 hour drive from home. So we planned a 2-day trip but it turned out that the only days we could make it the race course was closed.

I emailed Big White and explained the situation and thanks to Blair Ireland at Big White, Cory had a course all to himself for a day. It was the first of many situations where good people came forward to help Cory. Our thanks to Blair!

We have since found another on Whistler Blackcomb, and Cory plans to get there this coming winter, but more about that later.

The other challenge is the cost of equipment. Skis and boots can be very expensive and Cory needed a better set of skis to race with. So we shopped around, and thanks to Justin at our local Sportchek, Cory got himself a pretty good set of skis at a reasonable price.

We then considered a ski racing suit, but decided against it for now since no other members of his team had one. We learned later though that most of Cory's competitors wore one.

We also made a second 2-day trip to Kelowna, this time skiing where the Provincial Games were to take place, Crystal Mountain - just to get familiar with the hill and the terrain where the races would take place.

Yet another challenge was to get Cory better coaching. Of course, I had never ski-raced in my life so that best I could do was watch it on TV and help Cory improve his technique that way. With Cory's autism, he has difficulty watching something to learn how to do it, so we both watch and then I try to break down what we are seeing into specific body motions or actions that I then have him try. Communication can be difficult at times and it can be frustrating for us both. I remember one time telling him to use his downhill ski more, and he told me that they were BOTH downhill skis! Those with autism sometimes take things more literally, so while I meant the ski that was further down the hill than the other, he believed that both skis were downhill skis since that's exactly what they were! Once we figure these things out, we move on.

So there we are, getting pretty serious about all this, but with a few challenges in the way, for sure.

Next, the Provincial Winter Games.

Dad Gets Up On Skis

So a lot of success early on - winning all 3 of his first races ever in 2006 - and we were all pretty pleased. Due to the terrible weather conditions on that race day, organizers decided to invite all skiers who participated to the Provincial Games in 2007, so it wasn't really a qualifying race after all.



So by now, I had started skiing too. I had never skied in my life, but one Monday night while sitting in the ski lodge waiting for Cory, it occurred to me that this was pretty crazy, sitting there for 3 or 4 hours every week, and we're in one of the best places in the world to ski - one hour from home with plenty of snow, and Whistler Blackcomb just 2 hours away.



So I figured I'd give it a try - rented skis one night and walked up to the bunny hill. Put the skis on and climbed sideways about 25 feet up the hill, then skied down without any control. Tried it again, climbed a bit higher, skied down but still no control. Climbed a bit higher next time, skied down and this time nearly wiped out some people since I couldn't control my direction. Figured, ok, I'll try this one more time, if it doesn't work, I'll give it up.



Climbed back up, even a bit further up this time, started down, gained some speed, and MADE A TURN! And it felt great...so did that a few more times, then tested myself on the bunny hill chair lift.



Now for anyone who remembers learning how to ski, I'm sure they'd agree that one of the biggest challenges for a novice skier is getting on and off a lift. If you have a problem, the attendent stops the lift and everybody waits while you gather yourself up off the snow and try to somehow get back on, each ski and each pole in a completely different direction that the others.



And then there's the top - usually a fairly steep little hill right off the chair, so you're out of control going far too fast - down you go again to save yourself and any one else who has the misfortune of being in the way, or worse, having to watch.



So of course, I fell off the chair at the top my first time up - remember I'm over 50, on the bunny hill, and falling at the feet of 5 year-olds.



But then my first exhilarating run down the bunny hill, and I was hooked.



So I owe that to my son, if he hadn't tried skiing and become good at it, I never would have tried it and I find it difficult now to see my life without skiing with him. And I get to do something that I really enjoy with my own son, thanks to him. It's pretty special.

Special Olympics Ski Racing - From Beginner to Racer

So it became clear quite quickly that Cory liked to ski fast, that he truly had no fear. So a couple of years later, we found a Special Olympics chapter in a neighbouring community that offered an Alpine Skiing program.

As luck would have it though, Cory missed registration by only a couple of weeks, so he was not eligible to race that first year. Which meant that he would have to wait a full four years before he could race with Special Olympics, since they use a four year cycle (see "The Beginnings" blog)

So we continued skiing once a week with Special Olympics on Cypress Mountain, usually with one ski trip per year. The photo above was taken at Sun Peaks in Kamloops in 2004.

A few trips to Whistler too...this one in 2005...but all of it for fun skiing, no racing yet.

Finally, in February 2006, his first chance to race. Now there had been some gate training on Cypress, but he had not had any exposure to skiing through gates and being timed, racing against others.

This was at the Regional Qualifier on Crystal Mountain near Kelowna, BC, and only the best skiers in each ability level would qualify for the Provincial Winter Games the following year. So much to Cory's disappointment, he was placed in the Novice division since he had never raced before - "but I'm not a BEGINNER" he said.

Weather conditions were nothing short of awful - cold, very strong winds, blowing snow, very poor visibility.

But the races went on, and sure enough Cory won all 3 races: slalom, giant slalom, and super giant slalom. He was pretty pleased with himself, and qualified for the Provincial Games in February 2007.

Next, getting serious about racing; friends who have helped Cory along the way; and some real challenges to Cory's progress.

Special Olympics Ski Racing - The Beginnings...

This photo was taken on Mount Hood in July 2007, when Cory attended Bob Vial's Hurricane Ski Camp.

It was a very challenging week for Cory. It was hard work, it was very confusing, and it was under harsh conditions. But he came through it, both a better skier and a better young man.

But let's start at the beginning....

Cory is an 18 year-old young man with a condition called Pervasive Development Disorder, a form of autism. He was diagnosed early, at around 4 years of age. So he has benefitted from a lot of support from speech therapists, special ed teachers, etc. He is considered "high-functioning", and if you met him, at first you probably wouldn't realize that he is autistic. But he does have difficulty understanding complex instructions, especially verbal; has short-term memory problems; he finds it difficult to make decisions; and he must take medication to control seizures.

So it is more difficult for him to do a lot of things that other 18 year-olds do - drive a car for example. He does not enjoy most movies and television, since the plot lines move too quickly for him to completely understand. He communicates well, he can read and write, but has difficulty comprehending what he is reading, so he does read a bit slower.

So when he was in Grade 7, and said he wanted to go on the school ski trip for a day, even though he had never skied before, we were more than happy to let him go. We were anxious about it of course, and another student did break his arm that day on the ski hill, but Cory did fine.

So, thanks to Sid Sharp and Lesley Crystal, Cory's Grade 7 teachers, Cory's ski racing career was off to a good start.

A year or two later, we learned about Special Olympics and there was a skiing program based in a neighbouring community. Special Olympics offers competitive opportunities to individuals with an intellectual disability. It is not the Paralympics - which is for individuals with a physical disability and hold their Olympic Games at the same time as the regular Olympics. But Special Olympics uses a four-year cycle too - year one for local competition, year two for provincial competition, year three for national competition, and year four for international competition. Athletes must qualify for each of these stages. More on that later.

So Cory joined the Special Olympic Alpine Skiing program when he was about 13, and at that time, I had never skied either - and I'm in my 50's. This program uses Cypress Mountain, just north of Vancouver, BC, as its home mountain. My wife and I would drive Cory to the mountain every Monday night, and sit in the lodge for a couple of hours while he skied. We were told he was doing quite well on the "bunny-hill", the beginners' hill, and he liked to go fast.

One Monday night in that first year, we were told that we could climb up the mountain a bit to watch him. So we trekked up and stood behind a fence looking for him in the night-time gloom that is called night skiing. Soon enough, we saw what appeared to be Cory, but we couldn't really tell, 'cause to us he was just a blur - skiing much too fast for our liking and it appeared he was heading right into a small building. Turned out he skied behind that building so no harm done, but we were stunned at how fast he was going!

So that was the first time I saw him on skis - just a blue blur whizzing by in front of me.

I have a photo print (taken before we had a digital camera) of him back then. I'll have to get it scanned so we can add it to this blog.

Next up, from beginner to racer.

Ski Racing in Special Olympics - Just Getting Started

Just getting started tonight. Just got this set up, so we'll start from the beginning.

This blog will be our journal of Cory's road to his dream - to represent Canada in Alpine Skiing and compete in the Special Olympics World Games in 2013.

So our next post will take us back to the beginning - first time skiing in Grade 7. Then we'll get into his involvement with Special Olympics, how that got his dad involved in skiing for the first time in his life. We'll talk about what we've learned about ski racing. We'll talk about the BC Provincial Winter Games and Cory's participation in that in February 2007, and how that started Cory's dream to a world championship.

We'll talk about his participation in the Hurricane Ski Camp on Mount Hood in July 2007. And we'll talk about the work that Cory has already put into this, and how much more work needs to be done. We'll talk about his dream, his plan, and what it will take to make it come true.

And we'll talk about all the great people that have already helped us along the way.