Special Olympics Ski Racing - A Heart- & Foot-Warming Story Part Two

In my last post, I talked about the generosity of Greg and Kim at Snowcovers in Vancouver, when they provided Cory with one of the Therm-ic Liion boot warming systems.



We skied on our local mountain - Cypress Mountain on Vancouver's North Shore - just a couple of nights ago. It was about -5 degrees C (say, 25 degrees F), and we started the system at level 2. There are 9 settings on this system, 1 being the lowest and 9 being the highest (warmest). Cory's feet started getting a bit cold after about one hour of skiing, so we moved the setting up to 3, and that was better. We took a supper break a bit later and moved the setting up to 4. This time, Cory's feet stayed nice and warm for the rest of the evening. So it sure did the trick - we may have to move the setting up to 5 or 6 when it's colder, but there's no doubt the system does what it's supposed to do.



I also decided to have my boots fitted by Greg, and after Greg put in at least a couple of hours working on my boots, they feel really good on my feet - nice even fit all around, no pressure points, and very little movement of my feet inside the boots. So now I'm anxious to get on snow to give them a try. That will probably be just after Christmas - we're planning to spend 2-3 days on Whistler Blackcomb then.



So all I can say is, if you are looking for any ski equipment in the Vancouver area - skis, boots, poles, gloves, clothing, helmets, goggles, etc - or you'd just like your boots to fit properly - you gotta go to Snowcovers on 3rd Avenue West, corner of Pine. Tell Greg I sent you, OK? Guaranteed he'll take very good care of you.



Last week, Cory also spent a day at Gatebusters on Whistler Blackcomb. Tom Prozchaka was out of the country, so we'll meet up with him another time. A Giant Slalom course had been set up and Cory skied it about 8 or 10 times. He enjoyed it a lot - by 2pm I was exhausted trying to keep up with him, but he wanted to keep going. So I let him go and work his way back to the top of the run on his own (we had done it several times together during the day so he would know where to go). It worked out fine.

The coach for the day at Gatebusters - Kim - told Cory to look further down the mountain as he skied through the course, but that overall, Cory looked pretty good, using a good line through the course. So a good first day of the year for Cory skiing a race course.

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Special Olympics Ski Racing - A Heart- & Foot-Warming Story

In our last post to this blog, I talked about how Cory's feet became very cold very quickly in his new Atomic RT Ti 100's, and how we were fortunate to find Greg at Snowcovers to help us out.

We were back on Whistler-Blackcomb yesterday, and even though it wasn't as cold this time as last week, Cory's feet still did get cold (though Greg's suggestion of placing a hand warmer rolled up inside Cory's long underwear just above his boot did help). So Cory decided that we would return to Snowcovers the next day and buy one of the boot warmer systems.

Now this is where this story takes a very heart (and foot!) warming turn. While we were at Whistler, Greg visited this blog (he left a comment on the December 10 post) and read more about Cory's dream. He then talked to his boss, Kim, at Snowcovers, and together they decided to do something very special for Cory. So as we were driving back home, Cory's mum called him on his cell phone to tell him that Greg had called and wanted us to drop by Snowcovers on our way home.

And when we got to Snowcovers, Greg was there to tell us that Snowcovers will be donating one of their boot-warming systems to Cory! So we spent the next hour or so with Greg while he installed the system into Cory's boots. We now are actually looking forward to another cold day just so we can put that system to work!

The system is called the "Liionpack Thermicontrol System" by Therm-ic. It consists of two rechargeable power packs that clip onto Cory's boots, with a short cable running into the boot and to a special insole with a heating element on the bottom of the insole. It even includes a wireless remote to increase or decrease the temperature.

Here's a link to the Therm-ic website if you'd like to know more:

http://www.therm-ic.com/index.php?id=148&no_cache=1&L=1&vergleich=184&mit=315


So a very grateful thank you from Cory and me to Greg and Kim at Snowcovers Vancouver, two special additions to "Cory's Benefactors".

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Special Olympics Ski Racing - Cory's First Time in his new Atomic RT Ti 100 Boots

Well, Whistler-Blackcomb opened a bit earlier than usual and Cory was able to use his new Atomic RT Ti 100 boots for the first time. We tried to meet up with Tom Prozchaka from Gatebusters but unfortunately he couldn't make it.

It was a rather chilly day on Whistler: -16 degrees Celcius (nearly 0 fahrenheit) with a wind. And we quickly found out that while Cory's new boots were still comfortable, they sure were not warm. His feet were frozen within 45 minutes. When he first demo'd them on Mount Hood, that was back in July in record-setting heat, so we had no way of knowing his feet would get that cold.

So into the lodge at the top of Whistler to take them off and warm up his feet. After about 40 minutes, we bought some toe warmers (small packets that heat up when exposed to air, with a sticky side to attach to socks - neat technology actually) and headed out again. He managed about just over an hour this time then we headed in for lunch. Back out again after lunch for an hour or so, and that was about it. There's no night skiing at Whistler-Blackcomb, so at this time of the year, the mountain closes at 3pm.

So, a couple of days later we headed over to a boot fitting store in Vancouver called Snowcovers. There we met Greg - an expert boot fitter - who looked at Cory's feet in his boots and explained that the problem could very well be with his blood circulation. The boots may be comfortable, but they do not fit quite right, and to keep his foot properly in place, the boots have to be tightened so much that the circulation is being reduced.

So he suggested that he work with us to fit Cory's boots properly. Cory spent over an hour with Greg, then we left the boots for him to work on for a few days.

We returned today to pick up the boots. A few adjustments were still required so we were there for about an hour, but Cory has come home with boots that fit much better. It is difficult for Cory to tell us exactly how his boots feel, if there are any pressure points, etc. When asked if his boots hurt or are uncomfortable anywhere, he tends to just say "ummm" and doesn't give a definitive answer. Greg was really good at working with Cory to help him understand his questions in order to get the information he needed. I don't know if Greg has ever worked with autistic people before, but he sure knew how to get the information he needed.

So I really can't tell if Cory can feel the difference. We're going to Gatebusters on Blackcomb on Wednesday, and while it is not supposed to be quite as cold this time, we'll have to wait and see how warm Cory's feet will be.

If they are still cold, we'll have to buy a foot warming system (battery operated pads that fit under the insole, with a battery pack clipped onto the outside of the boot). At least $100, but with the great deal that Cory got on his boots, that's still a good price for a great pair of race boots.

So thanks to Greg at Snowcovers for his patient approach with Cory, we'll hopefully resolve the cold feet issue with these boots.

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