Vermont hosts Blind Athletes Winter Ski Festival

From the Skiing and Snowboarding blog at NJ.com:

Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports will host the United States Association of Blind
Athletes' Second Annual Winter Ski Festival at Pico Mountain in central Vermont
this Friday through Sunday.

Blind and visually impaired skiers from across the country, including military service members and veterans with eye injuries, will either learn to ski or participate in a competitive racing program depending on the individual's ability level. Paralympians Lacey Lilly and Rob Walsh will ski with participants and speak at the Saturday night banquet.

Alpine activities will be held at Pico Mountain while Nordic programs will be held at the Mountain Top Inn in Chittenden. Participants will be traveling to Vermont from Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, as well as from states in the Northeast.

In addition, Vermont Adaptive and USABA have partnered with the U.S. Paralympics to earmark this festival as a Paralympic Academy event. These events
serve as an introduction to Paralympic sports and allow participants to try different activities. This year all participants will be introduced to the Paralympic sport of goalball during the festival.

USABA, with the support of the Gibney Family Foundation, covers the majority of the costs for participants to attend, including lift tickets, ski rentals and guide costs. Since its founding in 1976, USABA, a community-based organization of the United States Olympic Committee, has reached more than 100,000 blind and visually impaired individuals. For more information, visit their Web site: www.usaba.org

Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports (VASS) is the only year-round disabled sports program with daily programming in the state, which is committed to empowering individuals with disabilities. More than 400 volunteers serve clients from all over the world in three locations in Vermont - Pico Mountain at Killington; Sugarbush Resort in Warren; and Bolton Valley Resort in Bolton.