My son, Walker Schatz, was a youth alpine ski racer and still races occasionally. For over 10 years he raced for Snowshoe Mountain in the Southern Alpine Racing Association. Of course, over those years he went through a number of side-zip race pants. Now to present day, he is 23 and works as an adaptive ski instructor with the Challenged Athletes of West Virginia Adaptive Ski Program at Snowshoe Mountain. I can’t even begin to emphasize how absolutely passionate he is about the work he is doing; working with athletes from Wounded Warriors to children and adults with physical, mental, and/or intellectual struggles. It gives him enormous satisfaction as he brings his athletes great joy and fosters a true sense of independence, when for many they have little control in their daily lives, while on the slopes.
Walker is again preparing for another season at Snowshoe as an adaptive ski instructor. As one can imagine; having a house full of skiers and ski racers there are a plethora of ski pants to grab. In addition to traditional ski pants, Walker insists on packing his and his sister’s old Arctica 50/50 Side Zip Pants. When questioned about his choice he had a very thoughtful response. When working with an athlete who is non-verbal or struggles with directions (left & right) having two different colored legs helps.
Walker can use his pant leg colors as directional signals; i.e., watch my green leg, follow and turn with the orange leg, etc. I am so impressed with his resourcefulness, understanding of individual needs, and creativity in his application of ski instructing/coaching strategies and techniques; it was/is absolutely heartwarming.
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