Adaptive skiing, snowboarding, fat biking, snowshoeing and more will empower families with disabilities to get outside
Park City, Utah (Dec. 1, 2020) – Today, the National Ability Center (NAC), a leading organization dedicated to empowering individuals of differing abilities announced modifications for its regular winter programming. Registration opened to participants on Nov. 23 and first lessons took place today, Dec. 1. The new adaptive ski and snowboard lesson format will be revised to only allow half-day lessons to participants, in order to eliminate time spent indoors.
The National Ability Center will offer its adaptive winter programs including:
- Nordic skiing
- Fat tire biking
- Indoor Climbing
- Family and military camps
- Alpine Skiing
- Snowboarding
- …and more!
“We are thrilled to be able to provide our winter programming and the safety of our members and instructors is our highest priority. Beginning with our current reopening, we have worked tirelessly to strategize the safest and most effective plan to continue our adaptive programming, while also following recommendations from local health officials. We are incredibly grateful to Park City Mountain and Vail Resorts for ensuring we are able to provide our most popular winter programming to our members this season,” said Meeche White. “We know this is a very uncertain season for most, and we at the NAC hold the health of the community in the highest regard, so that our participants can get back on the slopes.”
To practice safe social distancing and utilize enhanced safety protocols, the NAC has implemented a new outdoor check-in/out area, as well as a large tented area on the deck of their Mountain Center to allow additional distancing room for participants as they gear up for their outdoor activities. The newly-formatted winter programming will focus heavily on outdoor and distanced activities and a double-layer mask is required by all participants, caregivers and instructors while at the resort.
“Programming will look slightly different this year, but we have worked hard to ensure that all programs are offered and executed within reason,” said Tracy Meier, Program & Education Director at the National Ability Center. “As always, all new participants must have their first ski or snowboard lesson at the NAC’s Park City Mountain location and will be asked to register for only one time slot per session. We’ve also implemented new health and safety protocols including outdoor check-in and mask requirements to keep people outside and recreating as we support our families and participants during these times. Lastly, we could not ask for a better or more understanding community to support us. We are focused on staying open this season as we understand our programming is needed now more than ever .”
The winter programming is a staple at the National Ability Center and has been the organization’s most active programming season for decades. Due to lower capacities, the NAC is expecting many programs to be waitlisted and encourage participants to sign up early to secure their spot. Individual lessons are available for most of the session activities. For more information regarding the NAC’s winter programming, lessons being offered, as well as protocols and requirements for registration, visit https://discovernac.org/phase-two-programming-details/. For additional information about the National Ability Center, visit discovernac.org.
