Jourdan Peters, 14, is a seasoned skier. She likes the speed she can get on intermediate trails, and she's experienced enough to note the differences between her favorite haunts at Breckenridge and Monarch.
Elsa Bailey, 94, is a veteran skier who's been drawn to the mountains for decades. Like Peters, she favors intermediate trails, and if she had her choice, she'd spend all her time at Arapahoe Basin, where on a perfect day she starts "at the top."
Eight decades separate Peters and Bailey, but they share a love of skiing and something else - both are visually impaired.
"You would think that people with problems seeing wouldn't be out on the mountain skiing. You would be wrong," Bailey says.
Bailey and Peters are members of VIBeS (Visually Impaired and Blind Skiers of the Colorado Springs Community), an organization made up of visually impaired people, volunteers and guides.
The nonprofit group was founded in 1974 by the late Hugh Nevins, a legendary Coloradan who's in the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame and was the most decorated glider pilot during World War II. Originally called the Colorado Ski School for the Blind, it was based in Vail. In 1990, a group from the original school trained a group of volunteer guides in Colorado Springs, and VIBeS was born.
For the past two decades, VIBeS has brought together sighted and visually impaired people who love to ski. It's an inclusive group with no membership fees. Its dedicated volunteers help make its trips happen, and support from organizations makes skiing possible for its members. Monarch Ski Area offers free lift tickets, and the SnoJets, a longtime Colorado Springs ski club, sponsors a benefit dual-slalom ski race for the group every winter at Monarch.
At this year's race earlier this month, blizzard conditions made it impossible for anyone to see, but 42 racers gave it a shot anyway. Peters didn't race, but she skied at Monarch that weekend. It was a turning point for her, she says. "I skied both days that weekend and didn't fall once. That was the first time ever."
Peters has a disorder called septo-optic dysplasia. She says she can see objects that are close to her but can't see distances, a valuable skill on a mountain crowded with people and edged with trees. "That's why we have guides," she says, giggling. "Otherwise, we would be careening all over the mountain!"
Peters says her guide's presence doesn't lessen the best things about skiing. "I like the thrill of skiing. I can hear the wind as I move down the mountain and feel whether the snow is powder or packed underneath my skis."
The sensory elements of skiing - the cold air, the bite of the snow kicked up by the wind in your face, the warmth of the sun - are a part of any skier's day on the mountain, whether they're sighted or visually impaired. But visually impaired skier and VIBeS member Marcia Barber says she thinks the joy of flying down the mountain on skis "is even more valuable to me."
"I value it because I haven't had to give it up. We give up a lot of things as we go along. We don't drive. We are dependent on canes and dogs and people's elbows. When you are skiing, a lot of those barriers just go away."
Barber, 52, of Colorado Springs, has a degenerative eye disease that's taking her sight and has been a member of VIBeS since 1993. She and her five siblings learned to ski when they were children and her sight was much better. "Thanks to my parents, we went even though it was cumbersome, with the leather boots with shoelaces and wooden skis with cable bindings. You didn't see a lot of families of eight doing that in the 1960s."
But Barber gave up skiing when she moved to California after college.
As her sight worsened, she thought she'd never ski again. "I felt like a pinball, bouncing off bumps I couldn't see. It wasn't any fun. But then I moved back to Colorado in 1993 and discovered VIBeS," she says.
Barber's condition robs her of her peripheral vision, an important quality for skiers, but having a guide gives her the freedom she craves. "It's nice to just float a little."
Allowing the skier to "float a little" is one of the best parts of guiding, says Leo Bush, 56, a VIBeS guide who lives in Colorado Springs. Bush has been guiding and instructing skiers for VIBeS since the group moved to Colorado Springs in 1990. He had worked as a ski instructor at Monarch, where he realized that teaching visually impaired skiers wouldn't be much different from teaching sighted skiers, he says.
"Skiing is something that is much more body memory and muscle memory, not cognitive memory," he says. "Your body learns to do it. A visually impaired skier's muscles can learn skiing just as easily as a sighted person. . . .
"When we are teaching, we will often ski in front, backward. When we are guiding, we will ski either in front of the visually impaired skier or behind and shout commands - 'left,' 'right' - to guide them down the mountain."
Bush has stayed in VIBeS "simply because I enjoy doing it," he says. "People often say, 'Oh, that's so good of you, helping someone.' But I really do it because I enjoy being outdoors and sharing something I can do with someone else."
The relationship between guide and skier "is one of mutual respect," says Elsa Bailey. "I love the feeling of skiing, of my whole body moving beautifully from turn to turn. But I can't ski by myself anymore. It's just a wonderful thing having a guide."
Programs for the visually impaired and blind
* Adaptive Sports Association; asadurango.org. Sports and recreation programs for people with disabilities. Winter sports include adaptive skiing, blind skiing, cognitive skiing, snowboarding and ski biking.
* Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center; boec.org. Adaptive skiing and snowboarding, wilderness courses, professional challenge courses and an internship program. Upcoming events: Alcon Winter Ski and Snowboard Trip for youths 13 to 17 who have visual impairments or are blind. April 10. For information, call Claire DiCola, 1-800-383-2632.
* Challenge Aspen; challengeaspen.com. Recreational and cultural experiences for people with mental or physical challenges. Programs include adaptive skiing and snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, hiking and dog sledding. Also offers recreational veterans programs.
Upcoming events: The 22nd annual National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, March 30 to April 4. 1-970-923-0578, http://miracles.dav.org
* National Sports Center for the Disabled; nscd.org. One of the largest outdoor therapeutic recreation agencies in the world, based in Winter Park. Winter activities include therapeutic horseback riding, skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, Nordic hut trips, snowshoeing and ski racing. 1-970-726-1540
* Foresight Ski Guides; foresightski guides.org. Guided instruction for visually impaired and blind skiers at Vail Resorts. 1-866-860-0972
* VIBeS; coloradovibes.org. Visually Impaired and Blind Skiers of the Colorado Springs Community, an organization that presents recreational activities for visually impaired and blind people. Winter activities include downhill and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. 1-719-593-1982
Marcia Barber VIBeS member, 56
* Profession: Elementary-school secretary
* Loves skiing because: "It's something I did as a kid and I can still do it. I love the motion and the speed and being outdoors and being with people I like."
Leo Bush VIBeS guide, 52
* Profession: Software engineer for Federal Express
* Loves skiing because: "I guess it's the thrill of motion that keeps me skiing. I learned when I was 16 and I've never stopped."
To become a VIBeS member
* Visually impaired skiers: If you think it's unsafe for you to ski alone because of your vision, you can participate.
* Guides: You should be an intermediate skier with strong skills and "the volunteer spirit," says longtime guide Leo Bush.
* Volunteers: You can help with VIBeS events, and even if you aren't a skier, you can participate in and help with programs in hiking, skiing and other outdoor recreational activities year-round.
* Information: 1-719-593-1982 or coloradovibes.org
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