2011 National SkiTour Series for Athletes with Disabilities

Rockville, MD – Disabled Sports USA (DSUSA), one of the nation’s largest multi-sport, multi-disability organizations, today announced the schedule for its national SkiTour winter snow sports series. From January through April 2011 the DSUSA SkiTour will include more than 80 events hosted by 40 DSUSA chapters and affiliates in 18 states. Events include beginner to elite ski races, race training, learn-to-ski or snowboard, Nordic ski programs and adaptive instructor training. Severely injured military and veterans across the country are provided opportunities to participate, free of cost.nU.S. Paralympics has joined as a national partner of the SkiTour, to help expand and strengthen the national infrastructure of adaptive skiing programs and the pipeline of alpine skiing athletes for the 2014 and 2018 U.S. Paralympic Teams.

“By working together, U.S. Paralympics and DSUSA can provide greater winter sports opportunities for youth and service members with physical disabilities,” said Charlie Huebner, Chief of Paralympics, USOC. “SkiTour will have a profound impact on building local programs, and also future generations of Paralympians.”

The SkiTour program is the only one of its kind that ensures opportunities for youth and adults with disabilities to receive state-of-the-art instruction and adaptive equipment throughout the nation’s leading ski destinations such as Breckenridge, Sun Valley, Aspen, Waterville Valley, Park City, Tahoe and more.

“The 2010 DSUSA Ski Tour provides skiing, snowboarding and Nordic rehabilitation opportunities that teach people with disabilities that they can lead full and active lives with their physical challenges,” said Kirk Bauer, Executive Director of Disabled Sports USA and a disabled Vietnam veteran. “The confidence, dedication and commitment it takes to succeed on the mountain can be applied to other areas of life. They come away from their experience with the attitude embodied in DSUSA’s motto: ‘If I Can Do This, I Can Do Anything!’”

In addition, SkiTour includes internationally sanctioned elite IPC “NorAm” ski races that qualify USA and foreign ski racers for international events, leading to the Paralympic Winter Games. It is the only national qualifying race series for ski racers attempting to qualify for the U.S. Disabled Alpine Championships. The SkiTour schedule also includes the Diana Golden Level I Race Series for youth with physical disabilities, consisting of 15 races hosted in eight states in Far West Sierra Nevada, Rocky Mountain and Northeast ski areas.

In addition to SkiTour, Disabled Sports USA also works with the Professional Ski Instructors of America/American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI) to train ski and snowboard instructors in the latest adaptive techniques and learn about advances in adaptive equipment.

To view the SkiTour calendar of events visit www.dsusa.org.

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