Help SVAS win $10,000!
Sun Valley Adaptive Sports has been selected as one of four candidates for the chance to win $10,000 in this week’s Toyota Halftime Handoff! Please help us to achieve this exciting feat by following these steps:
1. Follow this link!
2. Select “Vote” for Sun Valley Adaptive Sports!
3. Send the link (and these instructions) onto all your friends, family, co-workers … everyone you can think of!
4. You can VOTE ONCE A DAY … voting will end Tuesday, November 8th so don’t delay
Kids Bike Rodeo This Weekend – Kids’ Bicycle Donations and Volunteers Needed!
2nd Annual Bike Rodeo this weekend! Fun for all ages, but designed for kids to emphasize the importance of safety while bike riding, and of course highlight the fun involved!
Sun Valley Adaptive Sports is
partnering with the Ketchum Police Department and the BCRD to put on this fun-filled event this Saturday, May 28th, from 10-1 at the Wood River Y’s North Lot.
Leading up to the event, we are hoping to collect kids bikes to donate to those children in the Valley without them. If you have any small-sized bicycles collecting dust in the garage or just outgrown by your kiddos, bring it by the SVAS office and get your tax donation letter. We can take bike donations up until this Friday afternoon! Or give us a call (726-9298) and we will come grab it from your home.
Also, if you’re free Saturday between the hours of 9 amd 1, we could use some extra helping hands at our Bike Rodeo Booth! Set-up begins at 9am, and we will be there until 1ish. Bike decorating goodies galore!
Thank you – hope to hear from you soon or see you at the Rodeo!!
Check out our new site!
Check out www.hgvets.org - our brand new logo and fabulous Higher Ground photos!
We are YOUR local connection
http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005135141
… Warren Miller’s article that made it to the Idaho Mountain Express this week. He mentions one of our local adaptive skiers, and highlights the importance of our niche: making the sports we love accessible – and fun – for all! Sun Valley Adaptive Sports is the Wood River Valley’s connection to adaptive skiing, snowboarding, and all year-round activites. Contact kate@svasp.org to get involved today!
Fresh Tracks
Here are the upcoming group lessons we will need lots of volunteer help with … all lessons will be at Dollar:
Tuesdays, January 4, 11, 18, 25: Wood River High School Students, 12-2pm
Wenesdays, January 5, 12, 19, 26: Wood River Middle School Students, 12-2pm
Fridays, January 7, 14, 21, 28: Developmental Preschool Students, 10am-12pm
Clinics
We just completed our first on-snow clinic of the season, and the adaptive snowball just keeps gaining momentum! Check out the clinic schedule below, and let us know when you can make it! Stay tuned, because more are to come …
Tuesday, December 14: Dryland training, 2-4pm (Dollar)
Wednesday, December 15: Adaptive Snowboard training, 12:30-3:30pm (Dollar)
Thursday, December 16: On-Snow Adaptive Training, 9:30am-3pm (Dollar)
Thursday, December 16: Special Olympics Alpine training, 4-5pm (SVAS Office)
Saturday, December 18: Special Olympics Nordic training, 1-3pm (Quigley)
Mono/Bi Ski clinics at Dollar:
Monday, Dec. 20 – Bi/Mono/Dual 201: Bucketing and Blocking/Loading
Monday, Jan. 3 – Bi/Mono/Dual 202: Tethering
Monday, Jan 17 – Bi-ski 301: Bi-ski Progressions Level 1-3/ Skills and Drills
Monday, Jan 24 – Mono/Dual 301: Mono-ski Progressions Level 1-3/ Skills and Drills
Monday, Jan 31 – Bi-ski 401: Bi-ski Progressions Level 4-6/ Skills and Drills
Winter Volunteer Training Dates CHANGED
Ready for the snow? Then get ready for our adaptive snowsports!! Here is the training schedule for the rapidly approaching winter, so put it in your books. I apologize for the change in dates; it was our fault in scheduling during a conflict with Sun Valley Company. There are two chances for each training session, so we hope you can make one of each! Dryland and adaptive on-snow trainings will be required this year to ski/board with our participants.
Dryland Training—downstairs at Dollar Lodge:
Monday, November 29th: 5:30-8p(no equipment necessary)
Tuesday, November 30th: 9a-12p(no equipment necessary)
Adaptive On-Snow 101—Dollar Mountain:
Saturday, December 4th (bring your own gear): 9a-3p
Sunday, December 5th (bring your own gear): 9a-3p
How To Instruct a “Regular” Ski/Board Lesson—Dollar Mountain:
Saturday, December 11th (bring your own gear): 9a-12p
Sunday, December 12th (bring your own gear): 9a-12p
SVAS vs. Smith Cornerstone Challenge!
November 11 – 5-8pm
Cornerstone Bar & Grill will generously be hosting an evening to benefit the wounded veterans of Sun Valley Adaptive Sports’ Higher Ground program. Guest bartenders Mike Torres (Smith Elite Team) and Sean McEntee (SVAS) will serve the libations, and a portion of the proceeds will go to Sun Valley Adaptive Sports. Local participants will also be in attendance, and we will be highlighting their far-reaching, upcoming events. The evening will also feature a silent auction with primo offerings. So bring your friends, family, and an appetite as we salute the brave men and women of the armed forces.
Ski Pass Day!
Wednesday, October 27 and Saturday, October 30th are our ski pass/lease days for our locals kids, teens, and adults to come up, rent their ski/snowboard gear FOR FREE and receive their ski passes FOR FREE! What a fun day!!
We would love your help in making sure the day goes as smoothly as possible. We are looking for 2 volunteers to help the participants receive their ski passes, and 2 at Sturtevant’s in Ketchum to help organize their ski lease packages.
| Wednesday, October 27 | ||
| Sturtevants | 9-12:30pm | 2 Volunteers |
| River Run | 9:30-12:30pm | 2 Volunteers |
| Saturday, October 30 | ||
| Sturtevants | 10-2pm | 2 Volunteers |
| River Run | 10-2pm | 2 Volunteers |
ERC Article: Connecting PACK Kids with Nature
Connecting to Nature – and Each Other - During PACK
by Lisa Huttinger, Education Director, ERC
(Lisa also is the esteemed volunteer coach for our Special Olympics Nordic team … she’s the coolest!!)
For three Wednesdays in June, I had the pleasure of working with a group of 18 children ages 7-12 through Sun Valley Adaptive Sport’s Peak Adventure Camp for Kids (PACK). I look forward to this program each year, as I love to see the ways in which the ERC’s mission can mesh so well with a group working towards what appear to be a very different set of goals.
PACK brings together a group of children with developmental disabilities – primary among these is autism – to “provide therapeutic intervention to improve the developmental milestones” of the participants. One may wonder, how does the ERC’s goal of connecting people to nature fit within this context? The answer lies in the children’s absolute enthusiasm for exploring the natural world.
We know that children are born explorers. If you have hiked with a child, you know that you often get no further than the trailhead in an hour, and within that time have been shown myriad objects and discoveries, and fielded many questions – some of which you’ve never even considered yourself! But for a child with autism, the striking thing about these adventures is to watch their enthusiasm for their discoveries overwhelm their disability. They run to you, and hold your gaze as they show you the latest track, leaf, rock, or shell that they have discovered. They find the words to describe the things that excite them most. They do not realize that they have just taken part in a therapeutic event.
Each week, I intentionally designed activities that required the campers to interact with each other in a meaningful way. They were asked to share with the group the special traits of an animal they have just created, describe their favorite bit of evidence of the animals living in Howard Preserve, or carefully guide a partner who was blindfolded in a sensory exploration of a natural feature. But really, these are a part of any program that we do – we always encourage the adults and children in our programs to connect with one another and celebrate this place in which we live. It just turns out that, for this particular group, we can serve a larger purpose in their life as we guide them in their explorations of home.
