Maine Adaptive Adventures

So it’s been awhile since I have written but I really have been busy with more adventures thanks to Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation and Paradox Sports. Unfortunately, I keep neglecting to take pictures at these events and I think it makes a blog a little boring without pictures. So I got a few this time to show what I have been up to.

In November I went to Boston to Rock Spot Climbing for a Paradox Sports event. At the event, I helped to teach the awesome staff at Rock Spot how to interact with disabled climbers and be able to teach them the proper techniques for climbing for their situations. I was the sit climbing example and we had others who had various disabilities to allow the staff to get an overall experience of working with climbers who have disabilities.

I also have been helping to establish a new rock climbing program with Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation at Salt Pump Climbing in Scarborough, ME. Sean O’ Neill is our lead instructor and I am helping out where I can but also learning a lot about climbing. We have had 3 sessions. We started with bouldering the first 2 weeks with 2 different groups and then the first-week group got on ropes this week and we were able to try climbing on some of the routes. I found out I really love bouldering. It is a unique challenge to just get a few feet off the ground only using my arms and no ropes or climbing devices to aid me. It is also an amazing workout. I tried campusing this week which is just being on a belay while using just my hands to pull me up the wall on the holds that are established. This was fun too as it is like bouldering only I got to top out and I also love the challenge of trying to figure out which hold will work best next. I did have some difficulty when I came to a particularly sparse area but managed to figure out a way around and completed the route I had chosen. We also learned to belay this week which I had done a little bit in Yosemite but learned a lot from the instructors at Salt Pump about proper technique and communication. I can’t wait to try all the things I have learned on a real rock outside as soon as nature allows.

Maine Adaptive Rock Climbing

This week I also attended the Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation mono ski camp. I had a great 2 days. I worked with the owners of Dynaccess the first day trying out a new ski they have developed and fell in love with it. I am now in the process of looking into getting funding to purchase my own. They have really put some great effort into making a ski that really works well. Today I worked with Luba Lowery who is a volunteer for Maine Adaptive and also helps coach the race team. She is a monoskier and was in the 2010 Paralympics and is a member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame. I learned a lot from her as I always do and we were able to ski some more challenging terrain which I thoroughly enjoyed. I will also be learning from her tomorrow during race training.