The Foorce

I hate when stores put out their Christmas merchandise before Halloween has even arrived. But IMO, this winter opportunity is worth a little advanced planning!

We took the kids snow tubing last winter and Ryan did a little skiing, but we didn’t find out about STRIDE until we were done for the season. This year I now know better and I am sharing my newfound wisdom with you. Want to take your special needs child (or adult!) on a ski vacation and not have to leave them in the lodge? Here are a few locations where you can do just that, thanks to a wonderful organization named STRIDE (www.stride.org).

STRIDE hosts three mountain resorts to choose from for adaptive skiing and snowboarding lessons: Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock, MA; Catamount Mountain in Hillsdale, NY; and Ski Sundown, in New Hartford, CT. Their dedicated crew of volunteers coaches come from all over the New York and New England regions to teach over 1300 lessons during the winter to people with both cognitive and physical disabilities.

Private adaptive lessons are offered for 2.5 hours, which includes specialized equipment and rentals. Hours of operation are December through April. They offer lessons for Mono-ski, Bi-ski, Visual or Hearing Impaired, Intellectual Disabilities, 3-track or 4-track, and adaptive snowboard. Note: their program at Catamount Mountain offers lessons on the weekends only.

So even though I am still missing our wonderful summer, I am excitedly looking forward to some amazing cold-weather experiences this year, and hope you can take advantage of them as well!