MIDWAY, Utah — Amy Bower flew all the way across the country to glide in the tracks at Soldier Hollow this week.
“I'm here because I love to cross-country ski,” she said. “I learned to cross-country ski as a sighted teenager, but then I've lost my vision over several decades, and now this gives me an opportunity to ski again, even as a blind person.”
With the help of 131 volunteer guides, like Brian O’Neal, 112 visually-impaired adults and a couple of mobility-impaired adults are participating in Ski for Light at Soldier Hollow.
“I kind of feel like that's what we should be doing as people,” said O’Neal. ”We should be helping other people get to do things that they don't normally get to do. I can go outside anytime I want, do whatever I want, but there's people who aren't able to do that.”
The annual event, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, brings together adults from across the U.S. and around the world for a week of guided skiing.
“Because of the way the tracks are groomed into the snow, it is an outdoor sport that the blind can participate in largely independently,” said Julie Coppens, the board president. “They just need a verbal help to navigate and to be safe.”
Bower went to her first Ski for Light event 30 years ago and estimates that she's probably attended more than 10 since then.
“That really opened up not just the skiing opportunity, but also the opportunity to meet a lot of like-minded people who love the outdoors, love exercise,” said Bower. “They also happen to be blind or low-vision, and that has really been part of my community ever since.”
Next year’s annual Ski for Light week will be held in Colorado. Applications are available during the summer on sfl.org.
