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Do you want a different skiing experience from the noise and bustle of alpine ski resorts? Do you want to get outdoors in the winter and get some exercise? Is alpine skiing or snowboarding a bit too expensive for your budget? If any of these are true, then cross-country skiing could be the winter sport for you.   Wally Lee, cross countryand alpine adaptive skiinginstructor Cross-country skiing (also

Josh Hansen, a retired U.S. Army sergeant, has been bringing veterans to ski with Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports (OVAS) since 2018. His group is known as Continue Mission, which is a non-profit that Josh founded to help veterans heal from injuries ranging from physical to emotional. Josh knows first-hand the struggles that many veterans face. After two tours in Iraq as an IED hunter and 125

Talk to people who know Cindy Conlin, the five-foot-two woman with the radiating smile, and they’ll tell you that she exudes so much enthusiasm it’s contagious. The 51-year-old, who has been teaching adaptive ski lessons with Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports since 2014, never imagined her passions in life would converge. But they did, after she took what she calls a giant leap of faith and

It isn’t immediately obvious what makes Dustin Anderson so likable. The 48-year-old Brigham City resident who everyone calls Dusty is brief with words. But ask anyone who’s taken his ski lessons—he’s taught for over 20 years—and you’ll hear the same thing. Wrapped inside his quiet nature is a caring, steadfast man who not only makes you feel safe but also makes sure you’re having fun. Dusty

If you skied at Snowbasin over the past couple winters, you may have glimpsed an eye-catching sight: two snowboarders, one’s hands on the other’s hips, shredding the mountain in such perfect sync that they could be figure skaters. Or dancers. For Doug Kimball, one of the men, it does feel like a dance. He calls the other snowboarder, an Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports instructor who guides

Oliver Taylor was four when his family discovered adaptive skiing. He had a hard time walking due to a neurodevelopmental disorder, and at the time, in 2015, would often lose his balance and fall to the ground. Even getting from the parking lot to the base lodge, bundled in ski gear was a herculean effort for the Taylors, especially for his mom, Tania. “I’d get to

Eden, UTAH—A few days ago, I was feeling nervous about my upcoming ski lessons and then my wife reminded me why: It had been six years since I’ve skied, with everything that goes into it. For me, an adaptive skier, that means six years since I’ve bundled up in long underwear, fleece and gortex and stuffed myself into the bucket seat designed for skiers like

Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports (OVAS) officially began in 2009. But it took multiple years, one daunting transition, and a handful of passionate people. When Stew Marsh joined Snowbasin in 2004 to oversee and expand the ski school, he knew he wanted to add an adaptive program. A decades-long ski industry man and former ski instructor, Stew, like many, was awed and inspired by the event that

“1, 2, 3, BOOM!” That’s what 13-year-old Sam Dingman told his parents after his first OVAS ski lesson. The moment was significant for several reasons, one of them being that Sam has Down syndrome. Not only is speaking hard for him, but also are activities that require leg strength. Sam demonstrated what he had learned as he spoke. BOOM marked the moment his instructor, Carrie, wanted him

Alex Davenport is easy to spot up on the mountain: just look for the guy in the pink helmet. What was initially a dare from a friend over a decade ago—wear this pink helmet and I’ll give it to you for free—became an awesome icebreaker among the students to whom he gave ski lessons, much to Alex’s surprise. More importantly, the helmet evolved into something else.