GMAS board member and Stowe adaptive instructor Tom Hall recently participated in the nation’s most prestigious adaptive skiing instructional event, Move United’s Ski Spectacular at Colorado’s Breckenridge Resort.
The Ski Spectacular brings together the adaptive athletes and instructors from across the country to learn from the best adaptive coaches.
The program includes clinics in and off the snow in all adaptive disciplines – visual and cognitive impairment, sit-skiing, and three and four track skiing.
Tom participated in clinics that focused on sit-skiing, both mono- and bi-skis, and had ample opportunities to get in the equipment and ski and learn from the perspective of the students that he will be teaching this winter.
“It is important to me that I can sit in a mono or bi-ski and experience the same movements as my students so I can talk to them in terms familiar to them,” commented Hall.
One of the pieces of equipment Tom got to use was the Monique monoski, which GMAS was able to purchase last spring for use this season.“It’s a great piece of equipment,” Tom said. “It is much better suited as a beginner and intermediate platform for the typical skier we see at Stowe. I am looking forward to teaching new students this year and years to come.”
This is Tom’s second Ski Spectacular. He is looking forward to future events and bringing the results of that experience back to participants here in the Green Mountains.
Note: Last March, Tom Hall embarked on a personal quest. In honor of his 55th birthday, he set off to ski 55,000 vertical feet at Stowe in one single day. Not only did he reach his goal, he crushed it clocking 79,298 vertical feet and 39 runs. Through this fundraiser, Tom raised over $16,000 which was used to purchase new adaptive ski equipment used by our program. A Monique monoski was added to our small fleet, as well as two sliders to be used in the GMAS alpine, and cross-country ski programs. We are hopeful that Tom will challenge himself to a Vertical Challenge again in 2023, this time with different fundraising goals. We will keep you posted when we know more and hope that you will support his effort generously. Read the story here.