麻豆社区

A great time was had by all at an Intro to Sit-Ski event recently.

Cross Country Yukon supplied the sit-skis at Mount McIntyre Saturday afternoon for people to try out on flat terrain in the stadium beside the Canada Games Centre.

Sit-skis are, as the name implies, a seat with skis attached to it.

John Ryan Christopher Morales, who only arrived from the Philippines July 18, was skiing for the first time. Despite a minor wipeout, Morales said he had a good time.

鈥淚t鈥檚 good but it鈥檚 hard to pull. But it鈥檚 so fun.鈥�

Morales didn鈥檛 hesitate when asked if he wanted to try it on a ski hill.

鈥淔or sure,鈥� he said enthusiastically.

Morales鈥檚 friend, Johnathan Licup, who鈥檚 only been here since Nov. 4, also enjoyed himself.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very exciting, especially, me being Filipino, it鈥檚 new to me.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a very good experience.鈥�

Licup also wanted to try sit-skiing downhill.

鈥淚t鈥檚 much more exciting if you go fast.鈥�

Young Shane Licup, although a bit shy to talk, obviously enjoyed himself on the skis.

Azaniah and Amber Licup, on hand to give Shane a push, said it was 鈥渇un.鈥�

Aleena Elias and Arom Jacob also came out to try sit-skiing.

鈥淲e like adventures,鈥� she said.

Bryn Beck came out to give it a go as well.

鈥淚鈥檝e never done it before and I鈥檝e only heard of it recently, so I was excited to try it.

鈥淚t is really hard on the arms but it is a lot of fun.鈥�

When asked if she would do it again, Beck replied, 鈥淎bsolutely.鈥�

As for going downhill, Beck said, 鈥淚鈥檝e seen a video of somebody taking a jump on a sit-ski and I guess that would be cool. I don鈥檛 know; it鈥檚 pretty scary.鈥�

Beck added she is 鈥渁bsolutely not鈥� a daredevil.

Dhanya Thomas and Lydia Abraham were also out for a sit-ski.

鈥淰ery nice,鈥� said Abraham.

鈥淔antastic,鈥� exclaimed Thomas.

Abraham said, 鈥淭his was my first experience and I enjoyed it.鈥�

Both women said they鈥檇 like to try going downhill on a sit-ski since they like going fast.

Ben Poudou was one of the instructors on hand, along with Cross Country Yukon head coach and sport coordinator Graham Nishikawa.

Poudou said they were introducing sit-skiing equipment that the club purchased two years ago.

He said the equipment doesn鈥檛 see a lot of use, so the first step is letting people know they have the equipment.

鈥淪ometimes we think that sit-skiing is just for disabled people on wheelchairs, but it鈥檚 not.鈥�

Poudou explained that people rehabbing from injuries can also use sit-skis to get out and get some fresh air and exercise on the trails.

鈥淪ome people may not be comfortable going out by themselves on skis, so maybe being seated might make them more comfortable.鈥�

Use of the sit-skis is free of charge. People interested only need to purchase a pass for the ski trails.

鈥淗ere in the stadium is the easiest place to try. Up there (on the Mount Mac trails) there is hills right away.鈥�

Poudou said Cole Digel is a volunteer who just started this year. His job is to give a tow to people who need it.

鈥淛ust to make sure people are not stuck in the stadium,鈥� explained Poudou.

鈥淭he purpose here is to show and tell people that we have that here if you want to get out on the trail, if you can鈥檛 stand up for a long time, you鈥檙e not comfortable 鈥� whatever your reason.鈥�

Beck got a helping tow from Digel.

鈥淚 like that a lot more. It鈥檚 not such a hard workout on the arms once you have a little momentum. It was lots of fun. Cole did a great job.鈥�

Darryl Tait, a well-known person in the community with limited mobility, was also on hand and received some valuable coaching from Nishikawa.

鈥淏en reached out to me and told me we were going to be doing this again. I was a part of this setup last year and just to help awareness and show people that this is available to the community.

鈥淧eople with limited mobilities don鈥檛 think they can get out and enjoy the outdoors. There鈥檚 equipment sitting here waiting for them to be used.鈥�

Tait built his own sit-ski when one wasn鈥檛 available to use. His thought process was, 鈥淚f it鈥檚 not here, I鈥檓 just gonna make it.

鈥淚 quickly discovered that it鈥檚 much more dangerous than downhill skiing itself once you get down the hills because the level of control is a lot different than a downhill sit-ski setup.鈥�

Tait appreciated the advice he got from Nishikawa.

鈥淚t was great talking to Graham, who knows the industry and knows so much about it that he was able to give me some tips and pointers, even with my own setup and see how I can start progressing the sport.

鈥淔irst, he wanted to take a look at how I pushed and I was doing a lot bigger, longer strokes and he says it鈥檚 a waste of energy, so just to do shorter, quicker, faster, more powerful strokes would help improve my technique.

鈥淗e took a look at my cornering and how I pick going around the corners and shifting my weight and he seems to be fairly happy with how I鈥檓 managing that.鈥�

Tait said he is self-taught.

Tait added, 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see that they鈥檝e come alongside and they鈥檝e got the equipment and people and manpower to make this happen. I鈥檓 really excited to see people get out and enjoy their winters.鈥�

Local celebrity Sharon Shorty (Grandma Susie) even came out to the event to give it a try and enjoyed herself.

Tait said, 鈥淚鈥檓 so happy to see her here and giving it a go. We鈥檝e been on city council meetings together to fight for advocacy with the snow and ice removal policy.鈥�

Tait said instead of battling the snow, it was nice to actually be out playing on the snow and enjoying it.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 have to be a nuisance and it shouldn鈥檛 have to force us out of our community. We can embrace it and love it. So to have the equipment here and see her out here, it鈥檚 awesome.鈥�