WOODLAND HILLS : Trips Set for Skiers With Disabilities

Six trips to the mountains have been scheduled for participants in the Pierce College Disabled Ski Program this season, and organizers are asking for last-minute donations to fund more.

Skiers with disabilities are urged to sign up early for the trips to Mountain High in the San Gabriel Mountains, scheduled for Dec. 3, 10, 22; Jan. 28, and Feb. 18 and 25, which cost $20 to those not enrolled in the Pierce disabled ski class, free for those enrolled. That covers bus transportation, lift tickets, ski instruction and adaptive equipment.

“For anyone who is orthopedically disabled, the experience of skiing gives back the freedom of movement, because they no longer have an uneven gait,” said Lynne Haile, who started the program in 1973. “The same is true with blind skiers when they feel the wind rushing through their hair.”

The Valley’s only such program can accommodate up to 15 disabled skiers per trip. Each is provided with two volunteer guides and special equipment such as outrigger ski poles and, for paraplegics, sleds.

Beginning skiers with disabilities and friends and family also are welcome.

The program, which had its funding cut as Pierce’s own revenues dwindled, has survived on private donations for about a decade. This year, the Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Foundation and Chatsworth-based Haas Automation Inc. each chipped in $1,000 to sponsor a trip. Smaller donations also are welcome, Haile said.

Anyone wanting more information about how to sign up for trips or donate money or equipment should call Haile at (818) 719-6414.