Ethan Hess

Ethan Hess

Ethan Hess was born with spina bifida, and as his legs weakened, was no longer able to alpine or nordic ski standing up. Learning of a Para nordic camp at Whistler Olympic Park in 2012, Hess decided to participate and quickly embraced being able to ski once again. 

Ethan was just a teenager at his first Paralympic Games in 2018, gaining valuable experience. In 2019, he raced for Canada at his first para nordic world championships which were held in Prince George, B.C. and posted three top-15 finishes. With the pandemic wiping out big chunks of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, he returned with three more top-15 results, including an 11th in the cross-country sprint, at the 2021-22 season opening World Cup in Canmore. Ethan Hess won a spot on Canada’s para nordic team and skied to two top 20 finishes at the Beijing Paralympics in 2022. He is currently training as a member of the national team.