Hey everyone! Long time no see! What took you so long!? Ok ok I know... I've neglected you guys... But hey! I am the bearer of good news!
It finally happened! All that hard work, endless hours of planning, many hard times, the good, the bad and the ugly, and now I can say, "WE DID IT"!!! Fernie now has it's very own adaptive snow program! Words cannot even express how happy, relieved, and thankful I am. Fernie Adaptive Snow Program's first official day was on the 20th of January and we have been doing wonderfully! We currently have five students, three sit skiers, one snowboarder, and one who is just learning how to ski. We have been open four Sundays now and I am so amazed at how the students have grown already. There is such a positive atmosphere up there! Everyone is smiling and nothing is taken for granted. All I have to do is just look at everyone with their smiling faces and, like a disease, I start smiling too. It almost makes me want to cry. I see joy not only on our instructors and students faces, but on the parents faces as well. All the hard work is so worth it after I see all of this! Our program is more than just skiing. It is individuals being able to see the ability in their disability. It's people being able to say I can, instead of I can't. It's freedom! It's being able to forget the labels and just let go. A smile from one of these individuals, is truly worth a thousand words. I can see our program being the key that opens the door to a place where anything is possible. I cannot wait to see this program grow, but more importantly, I can't wait to see people's lives changed, forever. So I would like to just take a moment to thank you, thank you to my wonderful board of directors without whom this would not be possible, thank you to the amazing instructors who volunteer their time to literally change lives, thank you to the volunteers who keep everything going, and thank you to our incredible sponsors who opened up their hearts to FIRE. Words could not express my thankfulness! And now I can truly say we are... free to ski!
