Nordic Racers Para Nordic Program
Have you cross-country skied before? Do you want to try cross-country skiing for the first time but have a disability that might impact your ability to join in?
Who Are the Nordic Racers?
Nordic Racers is an organization of cross-country skiers of all abilities and levels. We encourage the enjoyment and growth of cross-country skiing as a lifelong sport. We provide members with opportunities to achieve goals as recreational skiers, competitive athletes, race officials, coaches and instructors in a safe, fun and social environment. Club members share a love of Nordic skiing including individuals with physical disabilities. Most ski recreationally for exercise. Some have competed in events such as BC Winter Games, Canada Winter Games, National Events and Para-Nordic World Cup.
Our high-performance Para Nordic team members have the support of nationally certified coaches and trained guides. Members of our high-performance Para Nordic team have competed in every Paralympic Games since 2010, making us one of the leading Para Nordic programs in Canada and the only program in BC to provide year-round training programs and coaching. These athletes also support our programs to introduce the sport of Nordic skiing to those new to the sport.
Nordic Racers’ Para Nordic Program introduces community members to cross-country skiing, offering instruction and training at all skill levels so members of our local community can achieve their goals and enjoy the many social and health benefits of the sport.
Participants with a physical disability are invited to participate in planned Para Nordic Skiing is Believing (SIB) events held at Whistler Olympic Park and at Hollyburn (Cypress Mountain). We target individuals who meet disability qualifications as described for Canada’s paralympic team participants.
Each event is a full day introduction to or return to Nordic skiing and is intended for anyone 13 and older with a physical disability affecting sight, upper or lower limbs. We provide nationally certified coaches, trained guides, helpful volunteers and all equipment needed including equipment for those requiring a sit ski.
These events focus on participation. Our goal is to make the sport accessible and fun for participants, coaches and participating volunteers.
Wheelchair Users:
Must be able to transfer with minimal assistance and have enough upper body strength to move your own bodyweight in a sled. Support staff do not push athletes in our programs.
Standing Skiers:
Includes blind and visually impaired, individuals having a physical disability including amputees. cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, etc. Participants must be able to stand and walk at least 400m with or without walking aids such as a cane or crutches but without assistance from another person.
For more information, email adaptive@nordicracers.ca
Our high-performance para nordic athletes
While most participants ski primarily for recreation, Nordic Racers club has had paralympic athletes attend the past four Paralympics (2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Ethan Hess was born with spina bifida. As his legs weakened he 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.
Leo Sammarelli was well on his way to making boxing his livelihood when a bullet pierced the eighth vertebra in his back and left him paralyzed in 2017. Now adaptive forms of many different sports including Para Nordic skiing and boxing are giving him opportunities to excel as an athlete.
As a Para Nordic athlete Leo has achieved much. After only two years of competing as a sit skier, Leo attended the US Para Nordic National Championships in 2020 and garnered some impressive results. He placed third in both the 5km Men's sit-ski distance race and the Men's sit-ski sprint race. Leo was named to the Nordic Canada Next Gen Para Nordic Team at the end of the 2021-22 season.
Photos courtesy Nordic Racers Para Nordics Program
