Ann Marie Beresford, the executive director of Adaptive Sports Association, just found out that her nonprofit organization will be receiving $50,000 from the Outdoor Equity Grant Program, and she could not be happier. The grant program is part of a bill signed by Gov. Jared Polis in 2021 that increases access and opportunity for underserved youths and their families to experience Colorado’s open spaces, state parks, public lands and other outdoor areas, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s website.
“We are hitting the ground running,” said Beresford, receiving the news Thursday about the grant. “We’re really looking forward to welcoming back a lot of our core programs that have been impacted over the last several years.”
Adaptive Sports Association began when founder Dave Spencer lost his leg to cancer while in college in Wisconsin. As part of his rehabilitation program, he began skiing again and secured a job at Purgatory Ski Resort’s ski school in 1983.
“He was teaching in a traditional ski school, and a woman from San Diego had traveled out here with her family,” Beresford said. “She had also recently lost her leg in a water ski accident, and she sort of figured she would hang out while her family did the really active things. Then she saw Dave skiing down Pandemonium (ski run) on one leg, and she was like, ‘You’ve gotta teach me how to do it!’ For her, it changed the way that she viewed herself change and what she thought was possible.”
Spencer eventually joined forces with Joe Wilson, a veteran ski instructor, who was managing a small program at Purgatory assisting blind skiers who came to the resort. The two pushed to establish a program at Purgatory that would help disabled skiers to get back on the slopes.
Spencer died a few years later, but his legacy lives on, growing to include programs that assist disabled people in outdoor adventures that include rock climbing, kayaking and bicycling.
“We ski up at Purgatory during the winter, and then the summer programs rotate – whitewater rafting, fly fishing, multiday river trips and so on,” Beresford said.
The COVID-19 pandemic was hard on the organization the last couple of years, and several programs had to be postponed due to state restrictions. Now that restrictions have been lifted, Beresford and those who volunteer for Adaptive Sports are excited to return to normal.
“COVID-19 was really challenging,” Beresford said. “We’ve been operating under reduced capacity for various reasons. One of the things were looking forward to bringing back this year is Shred Fest. We do a school-based program with local and regional schools and special ed departments. This year, we’re expecting over 90 school kids to participate in that program. We dress up in costumes and do a big fun race. It’s really an opportunity for those skiers to show off what they’ve been working on.”
Besides school children, Adaptive Sports also assists adults, including veterans. The new grant money will help fund the nonprofit’s veterans programs, which includes an all-female rafting trip of disabled veterans.
“I think it’s such an incredible opportunity to help make the outdoors more accessible to a wider variety of people and eliminate those barriers to get more people outdoors and experience the power of outdoor recreation,” Beresford said. “I think the (Outdoor Equity) grant program amazing, and we’re super honored to be a part of it.”
molsen@durangoherald.com
