Veterans hit the slopes in Sisters Country

Injured veterans and their families took to the slopes of Hoodoo Mountain Resort last weekend as Oregon Adaptive Sports (OAS) hosted the sixth annual "Heroes in Sisters" event March 1 through 3.

Jeremy Fox, program director for Oregon Adaptive Sports said, "Our mission is to help people with disabilities to get out and enjoy snow sports. We're just now working towards being a year-round program and offering summer sports too, so we can offer recreation opportunities for people with disabilities year-round."

Veterans from all over the state gathered at Hoodoo on Saturday for a day of skiing. Volunteer instructors assisted some participants down the mountain on special skis while others took to the mountain by themselves, negotiating Hoodoo's various runs with skill any skier would appreciate.

"There are a variety of skill levels out here today; some are skiing tethered, some ski down independently, but they can ski the whole mountain here at Hoodoo," said Fox.

In honor of their service to their country, the wounded vets and their families were hosted to an expense-paid weekend of free food, lodging, skiing, and friendship in what is becoming a very popular event.

"This is the sixth year that we've done this here, this is our biggest event of the year in terms of the adaptive ski groups.

OAS has been around since 1996, and this is our 16th winter season.

The last few years we've nearly doubled in participation, volunteer help and instructor staff, things are going amazing," said Fox.

"We get a lot of returnees every year, we've had a couple participants that have been in every event since it's started.

Word of mouth, media coverage, but primarily word of mouth has really gotten the word out.

People telling their friends 'I know someone with cerebral palsy, I'll bet they'd love to come skiing,' or someone with a spinal chord injury and they can get back out skiing, so it's a lot of that word of mouth and that's how were getting a lot of our participants."

To make an event like this come off every year, it takes a lot of community and corporate support.

"For Heroes in Sisters, it's an all-expenses-paid weekend for the veterans and their families.

We get funding from the Wounded Warrior Project, Disabled Sports USA, the Paralyzed Veterans Association and several private donations to help make it possible so that the veterans and their families can show up and they don't have to pay a dime," Fox said.

"We put them up for lodging two nights at the Best Western in Sisters, we do a group dinner, and we're doing a breakfast, lunch and dinner here at Hoodoo today.

There is a great relationship between us and Hoodoo, also with Mt. Bachelor.

A lot of the businesses and community groups pitch in and give us discounts to help make this weekend happen.

It's pretty awesome to offer an all-expenses-paid weekend for skiing and lodging for the vets and their families."

This year, 21 veterans were registered and on the slopes on Saturday. While the Heroes in Sisters event is a veteran-specific event, the OAS in general is a program open to anyone with disabilities. Through OAS, people with disabilities can sign up for individual lessons or ski sessions.

In addition to financial contributions, it takes a dedicated staff of volunteers to help on the mountain.

"We're really reliant on a skilled and committed volunteer pool to make this happen," said Fox. "This year we have 40 snow volunteers, and 10 non-snow volunteers out there, but you can see the smiles, everyone is loving it. It's work, but everyone is having a good time."

For more information on Oregon Adaptive Sports, visit www.oregonadaptivesports.org.