Adaptive athletes battle for the adaptive world cup title

Tyler Mosher (Whistler, BC), current World Champion, won the World Snowboard Federation (WSF) 2010 Adaptive Snowboard World Cup today in Mont-Tremblant, QC. The event was also the grounds for the Canadian Adaptive Championship, which Tyler captured for the second year in a row.

Tyler has had a busy season. He competed in the 2010 Paraylmpic Games in Vancouver in Cross-Country Skiing and only had a short time to train for this World Cup event.

“It feels great to be the Canadian Champion. The competition was tough and I didn’t know whether I won. Out of the five competitors, it was anyone’s game,” commented Mosher after the awards ceremony.

Adaptive snowboarders from Canada, New Zealand, and the Netherlands competed in a sling-shot snowboardcross event. The sling-shot snowboardcross format provides a combination of both race and freestyle elements, while challenging the athletes regardless of their disability.

Carl Murphy of New Zealand took second place in the World Cup, followed by Ian Lockey (Rossland, BC) in third.
“I’m glad I had the opportunity to compete in Canada. It was a really challenging course so it’s great to see the guys with disabilities ride such a technical course,” commented Murphy.
For the Canadian Adaptive Championship, based on the same competition runs, Tyler topped the podium, Ian Lockey came in second and Mike Fisher (Forest, ON) finished third.
14 year-old Zack Beaumont (Tswwassen, BC) won the junior category. Zack is an ambassador for Adaptive Snowboarding and lit the flame at the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Paralympic Games.
Bibian Mentel (Netherlands) was the only female in the competition. Bibian is an athlete of very high caliber and it was an honor to have her in the competition.
It is the first time the Adaptive Snowboard World Cup and the 2010 Canada~Snowboard Nationals have been held in conjunction. The able-bodied discipline of Snowboardcross will conclude the competition on Saturday, April 3rd.
The adaptive athletes were on the course first thing this morning, training with the able-bodied Nor-Am riders. The Adaptive World Cup got underway at noon and the riders and the weather heated up the course.

“It was inspirational for the adaptive athletes to be able to snowboard with the able-bodied riders and it pushed them to take their riding to the next level. Merging the two communities into one is a great step in and of itself,” remarked Dustin Heise, Sport Development Manager for Canada~Snowboard.

“Tremblant provided the best possible venue, volunteers, and officials. Thanks to everyone involved,” added Heise.

Canada~Snowboard recognizes the significant interest in making the sport accessible to persons with disabilities and, as the national governing body for the sport of snowboarding, is addressing this interest through various initiatives within the Canadian Adaptive Snowboard Program.

Canada~Snowboard’s philosophy for adaptive snowboarding is to have it fully integrated with the delivery of programs and activities for able-bodied participants of the sport. Adaptive snowboarding is currently integrated into Vision 2020: The Long Term Athlete Development Plan for Snowboarding, and into the Canadian Snowboard Coaching Program.

All adaptive events held in Canada this season have been integrated with the able-body competitions. The Adaptive World Cup is the fourth integrated event of the season.

About Adaptive Snowboarding
Adaptive snowboarding refers to a modified version of the sport, with changes in equipment, rules, and technical specifications that enable persons with physical disabilities to participate in both recreational and competitive activities.
Adaptive snowboard events include male and female athletes with a physical disability such as spinal injury, cerebral palsy, amputation, or visual impairments. Athletes compete based on their functional ability, allowing athletes with different disabilities to compete against each other.