Teacher Helps Disabled Ski Through Life

As the season’s first decent snowfall dusted the local hills last weekend, Lynne Haile headed for Angeles National Forest, her small group of ski students and instructors in tow.

On this trip to Mountain High, however, the students--one blind and one partially paralyzed--guided the instructors down the slopes in the year’s first teacher-training session. At day’s end, Haile, director of Pierce College’s Adaptive Ski School, was satisfied. Another ski season was underway.

“To me, it is really thrilling to share the moment when a disabled person masters skiing,” said Haile, 57, who also heads the college’s Learning Center. “I see the wind rushing through their hair, a huge smile on their faces. The experience builds confidence in other areas of their lives too.”

Haile’s students agree.

“I was very depressed after my accident and didn’t leave my house much,” said Dan Wilkins, 33, who lost his left arm and leg in a motorcycle accident six years ago. “Skiing has helped my self-esteem. It’s spilled over into everything I do and changed my life outlook.”

Haile, a longtime physical education teacher, started the adaptive ski program at the Woodland Hills college in 1974, when she asked Marilyn Gledhill, a blind student in her modern dance class, to join a group of students Haile was taking to Wrightwood for skiing lessons.

Gledhill agreed, and conquered the mountain with surprising ease. The Adaptive Ski School was launched, and quickly expanded to include amputees, stroke victims, paraplegics and other disabled athletes.

More than 400 students and hundreds of guides later, Haile’s program is a success, thanks to the 23 years’ effort of Haile and the army of student and community volunteers she has trained over the years.

The program’s funding, which comes exclusively from community and corporate donations, has proved a thorny problem, however, and poses the greatest challenge to the Calabasas resident.

“We’ve gone through thick and thin with finances,” Haile said. “But there is a spirit in this program that is amazing. Some angel usually comes through for us.”

There has been no shortage of angels when it comes to volunteer ski instructors.

The instructors, all advanced skiers, must endure a rigorous training program in which they ski blindfolded or on one leg, so that they understand the challenges their students face.

Responsibility for student safety and the physical challenges of the program have chased some volunteers away after one season. For the most part, though, the rewards outweigh the risks, Haile said, and many guides are now in their 10th season.

Haile began teaching physical education at Pierce College in 1968. She later was intramural sports director for 10 years and has been director of the Learning Center since 1991.

The recipient of numerous awards, including the 1992 Pierce College Teacher of the Year, Haile says she gets her greatest pleasure watching students slowly conquer their fears on the mountain, and by extension, other stumbling blocks in their lives.

Her two grown children and her husband of 34 years, all adaptive ski program volunteers, share her desire to head up the mountain as long as they can.

“If the disabled can ski, I can ski,” Haile said. “I hope I’m out there forever.”

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