WSF Adaptive Snowboard Projects

WSF searched for Adaptive Snowboard Association in the last month and founded some important contacts with Canadian Snowboard Federation, Adaptive Action Sport (Based in USA) and several adaptive riders in Europe. Follow a short presentation of what’s going on in the snowboard adaptive field.

Canadian Snowboard Federation web site provide several interesting info about adaptive snowboard projects like the following introduction:

What is 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. Snowboarders who have become disabled and others who live with a disability want to be a part of the sport, recreation, and lifestyle that is snowboarding.
The Canadian Snowboard Federation recognizes this interest and, as the national governing body for the sport of snowboarding, is working to address it.
The CSF is in the process of developing a comprehensive adaptive snowboarding program, which will be formally introduced for the 2007/08 program year. Some test activities are occurring this season. Adaptive Snowboarding is not yet confirmed for the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Whistler.
Here you can download the CSF brochure for adaptive programs while for detailed info about canadian adaptive activities visit www.csf.ca/en/dev/adaptive/ or contact Danny Buntain danny@csf.ca.

On www.adacs.org you can find many information about Adaptive Action Sports Organization. A USA based non profit organization that “creates and promotes opportunities for individuals with permanent physical disabilities to participate in “action sports” and or the art and music scene that follows them. We do this through camps, clinics and events!”.

Giampaolo Galli, first of ever italian adaptive rider to enter a competition

In Italy, during the 2006-07 season, there were the firsts test projects for disable riders, focused on clinics for blind people and competition opportunities in cooperation with USASA: first italian disable competitor land in California last april to join USA Nationals (Giampaolo Galli @ USA Nationals). From Italian WSF delegates arrive also the recent announcement of a WSF Adaptive World Cup, planned for the next winter in the Alps.

WSF delegates meet people from all this organization during the USA Nationals in Northstar at Tahoe, California and start up some common project. We hope that all this enery will help the introduction of snowboarding in the next Paraolympic games in Vancouver, Canada, 2010.

To present new project or for info on existing adaptive snowboard projects, contact marco@worldsnowboardfederation.org

Adaptive riders at USA Nationals 2007 Boardercross competition
by Marco Sampaoli