2009/2010 Teams
Monica Bascio - Nordic National Team
A world champion handcyclist, Monica shifted her attention to cross country skiing when handcycling was cut from the Paralympics.
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Bascio took 2008-2009 season off to raise her newborn son, Henry. Paralyzed from the waist down following a downhill skiing accident in 1992, she still bikes to round out her off-season training, which includes getting off-road on the mountain board or rollerski. After moving to Colorado and checking the world handcycle title off of her list, she began cross country skiing in 2002. Randomly blogging at www.monicabascio.com.
Mark Bathum - Alpine Development Team
By age four, Carl's parents had him up on the hill in skis. Paralyzed below the waist in a car crash when he was five, Carl was reintroduced with ski racing at age 12 after watching a race in New Hampshire.
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Chris Devlin-Young - Alpine A Team
A Coast Guard aviation navigator, on his final mission, the plane crashed and Chris (known as CDY) sustained spinal trauma. Two years later, a recreational therapist forced the self-described angry, bitter young man onto the slopes and CDY was hooked.
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Within four years, CDY, who had never skied, earned a position on the team as standing skier. In 1994, he was a top contender at the Lillehammer Paralympics but broke a kneecap in training. In the final hours, he competed with a shattered kneecap and won Gold in the slalom. After Lillehammer, team doctors informed him the career as a stand-up skier was over. Chris Devlin-Young, the best in the world, retired only to start again two years later as a monoskier winning Silver at the World championships. Then at the 2002 Paralympics, he did double duty as the only racer/coach on the circuit. He won silver in the Downhill and followed the next day with gold in the Super G. He has continued his winning ways with national titles and multiple medals in various races as well the 2009 World Cup. When not skiing or training, he builds wheelchair-accessible furniture. Check the site at www.chrisdevlin-young.
Ralph Green didn't give up after he lost a leg following a random street shooting. He learned to ski.
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A fearless, hard worker, Ralph is the first African-American to make the team. While Green used his 2008-2009 season to recover from an injury, he couldn't manage to keep himself from the slopes. After some intense triathlon training on his bike, Green competed in some World Cup competitions and finished second in the U.S. Nationals downhill. Read more about Ralph at his web site: www.ralphgreen.net.
Sean Halsted - Nordic National Team
Air Force veteran Sean Halsted found skiing after a 40-foot fall out of a helicopter. An active guy, he couldn't bare to lose sports and found nordic skiing after attending a VA Winter Sports Clinic in 2001.
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In 2008, he finished 16th overall in only his third year on the team. Sean goes after Sled hockey, handcycling, swimming, downhill skiing and any team sport possible. Being a good Dad to twins Rileigh and Ethan is priority number one.
Sit-skier Gerald Hayden was a skier and snowboarder before a 1995 car crash in which he suffered a spinal cord injury.
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He rebounded within the year, turning to disabled skiing and now Hayden wants to be one of the best World Cup racers. His serious training paid off during the 2008 season. In the World Cup, Hayden had 10 top-20 finishes and wrapped up his year by grabbing second place in super G at U.S. Championships, along with fourth in the slalom and fifth in the downhill.
Born without a right femur, Allison Jones learned the fine art of balance. She's a multi-medalist in skiing and bicycling and a recent college graduate.
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All this because family ski outings were so much fun, she decided to pursue a life of it. 2009 was nothing short of remarkable as Allison finished in the top 10 of every World Cup. She loves cycling, surfing the net, building things, ice cream, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the backside of Vail, Grey's Anatomy and her down blanket. With her degree in engineering, Jones says she'll design and build prosthetics to help others find the freedom of movement. Check her Tweets at Jonezyrocks.
Ricci Kilgore - Alpine Development Team
An athlete for as long as she can remember, Ricci Kilgore attended college on a full track and field scholarship. Two weeks before Olympic trials, a car accident left her paralyzed below the waist.
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Against the doctor's advice, Kilgore tried skiing. She moved to Colorado to join the NSCD and realized her Olympic dreams. A strong advocate of stem cell research, she is writing a book about her life and receiving stem cell treatments. Ricci is also in the process of starting a foundation called the American Stem Cell, a non-profit organization to raise money for those who cannot afford stem cell treatment. Connect with Ricci through Facebook.
Chris Klebl - Nordic World Cup Team
A snowboarding accident in 1995 turned sit-skier Chris Klebl into a cross country racer. Teammate Monica Bascio, whom he knew from hand-cycling, introduced Klebl to the sport.
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His endurance from hand-cycling and background in skiing have helped accelerate Chris's learning curve. Currently the leader on the Nordic team after finishing fourth in the 2008 overall World Cup standings, Klebl boosted wins in the 10 and 15K distances.
Greg Mallory - Nordic National Team
Greg Mallory was in his final semester of law school when he skied over a cliff and a bad landing fractured his vertebra, putting him in a wheelchair.
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He took up hand-cycling and kayaking and later added cross country skiing as a way to stay in shape during the winter. Now, he is determined to be a World Cup contender. In 2008, he became the first disabled person to kayak down the remote Mangde Chu river in Bhutan. A lawyer with a Portland firm, Greg handcycles to work three days a week and paddles or roller-skis to the office the remaining days.
Meier wasn't a skier when he lost his right leg in a garden-tilling accident. The next year, at age nine, he started skiing and after graduating from high school, he joined the racing program at Afton Alps.
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A three-tracker (one leg and outriggers), he was named to the team in 1993. He picked off his first Paralympics medal the next year. A four-time Paralympian, Monte's game plan called for retirement after the 2002 Paralympics. But he's still one of the best one-legged skiers in the world so he's sticking around. Catch up with Monte on Facebook.
Scott Meyer - Alpine Development Team
Alana Nichols - Alpine Development Team
George Sansonetis - Alpine B Team
George suffers from a neurological disorder but thats no excuse for not being able to ski fast. Two medals from the Paralympics and a handful of U.S. titles indicate how well he can ski especially in speed events.
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He credits having champion teammates with making him push himself farther...and higher. After finding skis at age four when his family moved to the Catskills, Sansonetis was the lone disabled skier in high school races. He later moved to New Mexico, enrolled in the Colorado's Winter Park National Sports Center for the Disabled in 1992 and join the team with the 1998 season. Chat with George on Facebook or Twitter at fastguy3.
Caitie Sarubbi - Alpine C Team
Born with a rare syndrome (Ablepharon Macrostomia Syndrome) that only 13 people in the world have, Caitie was born without eyelids.
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This led to over 56 surgeries and left her visually impaired. 18 years later, Sarubbi is about to start her freshman year at Harvard University and make her bid to be a Paralympian.
Andy Soule - Nordic National Team
When an IED took both legs during the war in Afghanistan, Andy Soule needed options. An athletic guy with plenty of ambition, he attended a cross country camp in 2005.
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A year later, he moved to train full time at the Sun Valley Nordic Center. An invite from Kreamelmeyer to attend a U.S. Team on-snow camp at West Yellowstone paid off with his a silver medal at his first U.S. Championships and later a spot on the team. Andy capitalized on his first year as an opportunity to learn the ropes in order to benefit himself in future competition. After a 10th place finish in a 15K in Finland, Soule found himself 12th place in the overall World Cup standings. Not bad for his first full season.
Holidae Swan - Alpine Development Team
Danelle Umstead - Alpine C Team
Stephani Victor - Alpine A Team
Former film student and actress, Stephani is living her own gold medal script. Both legs were amputated above the knee after she was pinned by an out-of-control car. Three years and 11 surgeries later, she took her first disabled skiing lesson.
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In 1999, promoting her role in a movie during the Sundance Film Festival, she took her first disabled ski lesson from now husband Marcel Kuonen. Since then, she's won five World Cup titles. The athlete in her made her medal at the 2002 Paralympics. An able-bodied track and soccer athlete, she says no other sport feeds her soul the way skiing does. Keep current with Stephani on her web site at www.stephanivictor.com.
Tyler is a perfect example of the saying: It's not the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog.
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Born without much of his spine and losing his legs at age 4, Tyler captured his first World Cup win in 2004 and first title in 2006. The podium performer has also ecelled in the wild race for mono-skiers at the Winter X Games taking gold two out of three years. Check out Tyler's continuing successes at www.tylerwalker.org. Tyler is into hand cycling, skateboarding, canoeing, knee boarding, tennis and hockey, is attending the University of New Hampshire and constantly searching for sponsors so he can keep skiing the world.
Born with a birth defect that left his femur under developed, John Whitney required a foot amputation at only 7 months old.
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Never one to hold back from his dreams, Whitney was on skis at the age of 5. He immediately loved skiing and started racing competitively at the age of 13. Eligible to ski in the 2006 Paralympics, he had to turn it down to focus on his college studies. Move forwrd with John on his site www.johnwhitneyracing.com.
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