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hi all this article is available on the npf website at: http://www.parkinson.org/ahlstrom.htm but i wanted to share it with all of us including those without web access russ's name is familiar to me - is he [or was he] a cyber-sibling? this isn't current 'news' as such, but who cares? its message is timeless your syber-sis janet ------------------------------------------ DISABLED VETERAN CONQUERS THE COLORADO ROCKIES Crested Butte, Colo. -- March 27,1996 Russell Ahlstrom, an Air Force veteran from North Mankato, is at the Crested Butte Mountain Resort this week enjoying the freedom and exhilaration of skiing at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. More than 250 severely disabled U.S. military veterans with spinal cord injury or disease, certain neurological conditions, orthopedic amputations, visual impairments, or other disabilities have gathered in Crested Butte to leam adaptive Alpine and Nordic skiing, and be introduced to a variety of adaptive activities and sports including wheelchair basketball, scuba diving and snowmobiling. This year's Clinic is cosponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and is hosted for the 10th year by the Grand junction, Colo., VA Medical Center. Ahlstrom, 51, has Parkinson's Disease. He is currently treated at the VA hospital or outpatient clinic in Minneapolis, Minn. He will downhill ski using a bi-ski. The bi-ski is a bucket seat with foot rests to which feet are strapped. They are mounted on two independently angulating skis on which a person can actually carve a downhill parallel tum. There is a handle bar, or "power bar," which allows the individual to steer. It also has adjustable fixed outriggers near the base which give it incredible balance, making it virtually impossible to tip over. "This is a chance to get together with other vets," said Ahlstrom. "This event gives us a chance to do something we don't normally do. I really doubt that there are very many people with Parkinson's Disease who are able to ski!" "It was clear to me from the beginning that, for a newly-disabled veteran, this experience isn't just about skiing," said Sandy Trombetta, the VA recreation therapist who founded and now directs the Clinic. "These veterans just want to be normal, to do normal things. On the mountain, they become just like everybody else. When they come down from the mountain, they just sit at the bottom and look back up, kind of in a dream state. They are realizing that if this is possible -- if they can ski -- there are so many other things in life that are possible. After ten years of doing this, it's clear that we are in the business of changing lives." ------------------------------------------ janet paterson 51/10 - endocarb/selegiline/fluoxetine almonte - ontario - canada - [log in to unmask] parkinson alliance - http://www.parkinsonalliance.net