WINTER PARK — Jason Slawson was working on a roof in “cowboy country” in Texas on a Friday the 13th when it started to rain, and he fell down a chimney. The then-20-year-old shattered his back in three places and hasn’t been able to walk since.
That was nine years ago. After sitting around for seven years, Slawson decided to move to Colorado, where his twin brother had just bought a house in Pagosa Springs, and learn how to ski.
He strapped his lifeless legs into a stirrup and plopped down into a seat with a wide ski hooked underneath.
Slawson has gotten the hang of it. On Saturday, he was among 36 disabled athletes here competing in the Wells Fargo Cup. The three-day event, which raises about $250,000 for the National Sports Center for the Disabled, spotlights the competitive side of skiing with disabilities.
Some of the skiers, like 19-year-old Mashi Shinoda, travel the world in hopes of making it to the 2010 paralympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Others are more like Slawson, who still works construction in a wheelchair and splits his time evenly between Texas and Colorado.
The commonality is their spirit.
Slawson said he stands out because he isn’t from Colorado. “Even though I’m not from here, they treat me like everybody else,” the blue-eyed Texan said with a drawl. He’s very competitive. “I like to see where I fit in here.”
For Shinoda, who moved from Japan to the U.S. when he was 8, skiing is his full-time job. He was born paralyzed. “For everybody else, walking is normal,” said Shinoda, who is angling for a spot on the U.S. paralympic team. “For me, this is normal.”
Saturday’s event drew about 3,000 people to the abundantly sunny base of Winter Park.
The National Sports Center for the Disabled gives about 30,000 sports lessons a year to people with disabilities. It’s based in Colorado but has recently extended to the Midwest with soccer teams. Most of the lessons are in the winter, but the center also teaches hiking, rafting and biking in the summer.
Lessons run about $100 a day and because center officials don’t like turning people away, they hold fundraisers for scholarships.
“I’ve seen my office staff take up a collection to get someone a lesson,” said Craig Pollitt, the organization’s president.
Mark Romero was in a head-on motorcycle accident in 1979 and lost his right leg. He skis with “outriggers,” which are poles with small skis attached, and walks on a computerized prosthetic. In the summer, he mountain bikes with his wife, Katie.
He competed Saturday, in part, to support people new to paraskiing. But he most enjoys getting out when there’s not so much attention paid to him.
“There’s a lot more challenge in the bumps and the powder,” said Romero, 46, who lives in Pine with his family. “It’s great to be out . . . and totally integrated with the able-bodied.”
Allison Sherry: 303-954-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com
