With years of mountain-climbing experience, Greg Mortenson felt he was capable of conquering the Himalayan giant known as K2. Although Mount Everest is higher, the "savage peak" is widely considered a more difficult climb.
That's exactly why the former U.S. Army medic chose it to pay tribute to his deceased sister, Christa, whose necklace he planned to place on its icy peak. He made his attempt in 1993, but the "mountain of mountains" denied him his victory.
The Minnesota-born climber had nearly reached the top of the 28,267 foot-high mountain when clouds moved in and forced him to turn back. Of the more than 50 climbers who have perished on K2, nearly half the deaths have occurred on the way down.
Exhausted and disoriented by a deep sense of failure and the dizzying effect of the thin atmosphere, Mortenson started his descent. Without realizing it he became separated from his climbing partners and soon was lost.
What happened next became the grist for the 2006 best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace? One School at a Time." Written by Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, it relates how getting lost in the extremely roughed terrain of Pakistan's Karakoram ultimately led to the building of many schools in rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Mortenson will be participating in the 14th annual Virginia Festival of the Book, which opens Wednesday and runs through March 30. In addition to visiting local schools, he will take the stage at the University of Virginia's Culbreth Theatre at 6 p.m. Thursday to talk about his work building schools.
"I think people are really hungry for examples of how individuals can make changes for the better in the world," said Nancy Damon, program director of the festival, which is produced by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.
"I think that's one of the reasons why 'Three Cups of Tea' affects people so strongly. It really shows the positive power a book can have.
"And we're having a panel talking about a book people felt has done a lot of damage. The book is the 1926 publication 'Mongrel Virginians,' which was a disparaging treatise on the Monacan Indians in Amherst County.
"We also have an incredible lineup this year of popular fiction writers, such as Homer Hickam, Adriana Trigiani and Walter Mosley. We have a lot of Virginia history books this year as well, which we're very pleased about."
In addition to the Culbreth Theatre event, Mortenson will be talking about his mountain-climbing experiences at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports on Friday at 4 p.m. He has climbed some of the most challenging mountains in the world, but K2 likely came the closest to taking his life.
After becoming separated from the other climbers, Mortenson wandered for days through the rocky terrain. When he stumbled into the small village of Korphe, he was near collapse from starvation and exhaustion.
Although the people in the village were extremely poor, they took the disheveled foreigner in and nursed him back to health. While recuperating, Mortenson had the opportunity to see how children in the village received their rudimentary education.
Because the villagers couldn't afford to pay a teacher the going rate of a dollar a day, they shared one three times a week with another village. There was no school building in Korphe so the students, nearly 100 of them, sat or knelt on the often frozen ground to learn their lessons.
Math problems were scratched into the ground with sticks or marked onto slate boards with improvised ink made from mud and water. Perhaps what touched Mortenson the most was the determination he saw in the children to learn. Before leaving the people who had saved his life, Mortenson made them a promise. "I will build a school," he told them, and he gave the villagers his word on it.
After returning home to Berkeley, Calif., Mortenson started working to fulfill his promise. He got a job as a nurse in an emergency room, and to save money for the future school he lived out of an aging Buick he called La Bamba.
Mortenson calculated he would need $12,000 to build a five-room schoolhouse. He mailed 580 letters to politicians and celebrities asking for their financial help in his endeavor. The letter-writing campaign generated one check for a $100 from television news anchor Tom Brokaw. Mortenson had trouble convincing adults about the worth of his effort, but young people understood immediately.
Mortenson's mother was the principal of Westside Elementary School in River Falls, Wis. Soon after her son returned to the States, she invited him to the school to talk to the students about what he was trying to do to help students on the other side of the world.
After the talk the Westside students took it upon themselves to start a "Pennies for Pakistan" fundraiser. In a matter of weeks they filled two 40-gallon trashcans with 62,345 pennies. When students at the Village School in Charlottesville heard that Mortenson was going to be attending the book festival, they started a penny drive of their own. Like many people who have read the best-selling book, they were inspired to help.
"My daughter gave me the book 'Three Cups of Tea' for Father's Day last June," said Proal Heartwell, cofounder of the private school for girls in fifth through eighth grades. "As an educator I was very taken with his story.
"When we heard Mr. Mortenson was coming here we initiated this 'Pennies for Peace' campaign. During his visit we're going to give him a nice check on behalf of the kids, their families and the broader community."
At last count the students had collected an estimated 110,000 pennies in the jars they have distributed in businesses around town. The goal is to raise $5,000, which will pay to operate one school in Pakistan for a year.
The students at Westside Elementary School have inspired many other schools to get involved in the Pennies for Peace program. Since it started in 1994 more than 8 million pennies have been collected. More can be learned about this program at www. penniesforpeace.org.
When Mortenson received a check for $623.45 from the kids at Westside, his spirits lifted. Then he received a check for $12,000 to cover the entire cost of constructing the school from wealthy physicist Jean Hoerni.
Today a yellow schoolhouse with red trim stands in Korphe, but it was just the beginning. With Hoerni's help, Mortenson founded the Central Asia Institute, which has the stated mission of promoting and providing "community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Central Asia."
In addition to building more than 60 schools so far, the nonprofit organization fully or partially supports more than 560 teachers. Much of the support CAI continues to receive can be directly attributed to the book.
"I think 'Three Cups of Tea' really speaks to how powerful literacy is," said Heartwell, who teaches English at Village School. "Our eighth-graders have been reading the book, and to be honest when we started it they were a bit skeptical about Mortenson's efforts, and they couldn't really understand what was motivating him.
"But as they read along in the book they became really quite taken with his experience and commitment. I think they've really been able to see that one person can make a huge difference.
"And through the book they're learning about a culture and region they know very little about. I think it has also heightened their awareness of extremism, and how promoting literacy and education is a way to combat extremism, and is a blow against terrorism."
Books have also been used to promote extreme agendas or beliefs. "Mongrel Virginians" by Arthur H. Estabrook and Ivan E. McDougle is a disturbing example of this.
What makes the book all the more chilling is that the two men weren't fringe fanatics, but respected scholars. This gave the book a certain amount of legitimacy.
The program, "One Bad Book: The Disturbing Legacy of 'Mongrel Virginians,' " will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday in the City Council Chambers at 605 E. Main St.
Karenne Wood, director of the Virginia Indian Heritage Program, will join Tribal Council members Sharon Bryant and Diane Johns Shields to discuss the book.
"The book was kind of an underpinning of the eugenics movement to promote the idea that racial purity was a good thing," Wood said. "I think the authors absolutely believed in what they were writing.
"In general the book said, 'These people aren't as good as us, and here's the proof.' There was a lot of discrimination against the Monacan Indian community in Amherst County as it was, and this book provided more fodder.
"What the book did was split the community. Those who had cooperated in trust with these researchers were labeled by the others as 'sellouts.' "
Wood said the authors of the book used codes with the intention of preserving the anonymity of the people in the study. But the community wasn't large, and residents easily deciphered the codes. The book wasn't designed with the general reading public in mind, but it became well known within certain circles. Some readers were like Virginia physician Dr. Walter Plecker, an avowed white supremacist and advocate of eugenics, who used the book to promote his views. There were plenty of others who were outraged by the book, and spoke out against it.
"When 'Mongrel Virginians' first came out, the well-known anthropologist Frank Speck reviewed it, and trashed it," Wood said. "But the book still did a lot of damage, and one of the things we're going to be talking about is how books like this can be used as weapons.
"I'm against censorship in general, because it can be detrimental to the freedom of ideas we all cherish. But I also believe researchers have a certain responsibility to their subjects.
"I'm hoping this program will draw attention to aspects of American Indian history in Virginia that are less well known. And we also want to talk about how Virginia has changed.
"The whole American Indian experience is now considered a positive aspect of our history, and people are proud of it."
A full schedule of events for the 14th annual Virginia Festival of the Book, March 26-30, is at www. vabook.org. Those wishing to attend Mortenson's talk at Culbreth Theatre at 6 p.m. Thursday can pick up free tickets at the venue one hour beforehand. No reserved or pre-ordered tickets are available.
March 27, 2008
March 22, 2008
Girls Education International to do Fund Raiser in Boulder April 12
Spring Masquerave Dance Party!!!
April 12th @ Cafe Babu
1335 Broadway in BOULDER
on the corner of University and Broadway, next to the Boulder Mountaineering shop!
10pm-6am! Yep all night! So bring your comfy dancing shoes!
Suggested donation $20
Music by:
Jantsen= myspace.com/jantsenmusic
Spindler
Future Simple Project= myspace.com/futuresimpleproject
Alala One= myspace.com/alalaone
Jayce
and special guests!!!!
DU meets with Congressional leadership and Administration officials to discuss conservation
WASHINGTON – February 13, 2008 – Ducks Unlimited Executive Vice President Don Young was joined by other wildlife conservation organizations today to deliver a strong message on behalf of sportsmen and habitat: protect and expand habitat conservation and opportunities for sportsmen.
Young and DU conservation leader Dr. Tina Yerkes met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Senators Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Russ Feingold (Wis.) and 11 other Senators to discuss issues relating to hunters and anglers.
In two subsequent meetings, Young and DU Washington staff met with senior White House, Department of Agriculture, and Interior Department leaders to discuss conservation priorities, as well as House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (Minn.) to discuss the state of conservation in the Farm Bill.
“Issues that face hunters and sportsmen affect the entire American population,” Young said. “We exchanged information on wetlands protection, agricultural conservation programs, biofuels and the climate’s effect on waterfowl. It was gratifying to see the interest and knowledge of Congress and the agency leaders about our priorities.”
Young also talked about the importance of protecting geographically isolated wetlands in terms of promoting clean water and protecting waterfowl habitat.
“Geographically isolated wetlands provide numerous benefits for people and wildlife, but the protections for them have been eroded. The Ducks Unlimited-supported Clean Water Restoration Act would restore those protections. Water quality and waterfowl habitat are threatened by loss of Clean Water Act protection,” said Young.
The Clean Water Restoration Act has been introduced in both the House by Rep. Jim Oberstar (Minn.), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and in the Senate by Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.). The legislation would codify protections for geographically isolated wetlands lost in actions resulting from two Supreme Court cases.
“Energy independence and addressing climate change are important goals,” said Young. “Cellulosic ethanol and carbon sequestration using land conservation are important tools towards mitigating climate change. They also have value in the potential to protect habitat. Ducks Unlimited is working in partnership with private landowners and industry to achieve the dual goals of sequestering greenhouse gases and conserving waterfowl and wildlife habitat.”
In a meeting with USDA Under Secretary Mark Rey, Young was joined DU Board member John Tomke to discuss working with the administration to support strong conservation provisions in the Farm Bill. Farm Bill conservation programs are critical to breeding grounds in the Prairie Pothole Region. Seeing these conservation programs secured is one of Ducks Unlimited’s top organizational priorities. More than 2 million ducks are produced annually on Conservation Reserve Program land alone.
Later in the day, Young and DU staff spoke with House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson about the status of popular conservation programs like the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Conservation Reserve Program. Peterson cautioned that the Farm Bill will revert to the original law from 1949, if differences between the Congress and the Bush administration’s requests for the bill are not resolved, which does not include conservation provisions.
“With the Farm Bill being put into its final form right now, it is critical that we maintain open communications with Congress and the administration to ensure strong conservation outcomes,” said Young. “Chairman Harkin, Chairman Peterson, and administration leaders will be instrumental in determining the future of programs like the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Grasslands Reserve Program.”
With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization with more than 12 million acres conserved. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands - nature’s most productive ecosystem - and continues to lose more than 80,000 wetland acres each year.
Contact: Neil Shader – (202) 347-1530, nshader@ducks.org
For more information, please see www.ducks.org/cwra and www.ducks.org/farmbill
Young and DU conservation leader Dr. Tina Yerkes met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Senators Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Russ Feingold (Wis.) and 11 other Senators to discuss issues relating to hunters and anglers.
In two subsequent meetings, Young and DU Washington staff met with senior White House, Department of Agriculture, and Interior Department leaders to discuss conservation priorities, as well as House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (Minn.) to discuss the state of conservation in the Farm Bill.
“Issues that face hunters and sportsmen affect the entire American population,” Young said. “We exchanged information on wetlands protection, agricultural conservation programs, biofuels and the climate’s effect on waterfowl. It was gratifying to see the interest and knowledge of Congress and the agency leaders about our priorities.”
Young also talked about the importance of protecting geographically isolated wetlands in terms of promoting clean water and protecting waterfowl habitat.
“Geographically isolated wetlands provide numerous benefits for people and wildlife, but the protections for them have been eroded. The Ducks Unlimited-supported Clean Water Restoration Act would restore those protections. Water quality and waterfowl habitat are threatened by loss of Clean Water Act protection,” said Young.
The Clean Water Restoration Act has been introduced in both the House by Rep. Jim Oberstar (Minn.), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and in the Senate by Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.). The legislation would codify protections for geographically isolated wetlands lost in actions resulting from two Supreme Court cases.
“Energy independence and addressing climate change are important goals,” said Young. “Cellulosic ethanol and carbon sequestration using land conservation are important tools towards mitigating climate change. They also have value in the potential to protect habitat. Ducks Unlimited is working in partnership with private landowners and industry to achieve the dual goals of sequestering greenhouse gases and conserving waterfowl and wildlife habitat.”
In a meeting with USDA Under Secretary Mark Rey, Young was joined DU Board member John Tomke to discuss working with the administration to support strong conservation provisions in the Farm Bill. Farm Bill conservation programs are critical to breeding grounds in the Prairie Pothole Region. Seeing these conservation programs secured is one of Ducks Unlimited’s top organizational priorities. More than 2 million ducks are produced annually on Conservation Reserve Program land alone.
Later in the day, Young and DU staff spoke with House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson about the status of popular conservation programs like the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Conservation Reserve Program. Peterson cautioned that the Farm Bill will revert to the original law from 1949, if differences between the Congress and the Bush administration’s requests for the bill are not resolved, which does not include conservation provisions.
“With the Farm Bill being put into its final form right now, it is critical that we maintain open communications with Congress and the administration to ensure strong conservation outcomes,” said Young. “Chairman Harkin, Chairman Peterson, and administration leaders will be instrumental in determining the future of programs like the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Grasslands Reserve Program.”
With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization with more than 12 million acres conserved. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands - nature’s most productive ecosystem - and continues to lose more than 80,000 wetland acres each year.
Contact: Neil Shader – (202) 347-1530, nshader@ducks.org
For more information, please see www.ducks.org/cwra and www.ducks.org/farmbill
March 20, 2008
Adventure Cycling Inspires Adults to Get Kids Psyched on Bikes
Missoula, Montana, March 20th, 2008 — Adventure Cycling Association announces a fantastic new educational offering, the Pedal Pioneers Training Course (PPTC). Designed to get kids off the couch and onto a bicycle saddle, this is a leadership course for adults who want to take groups of kids on overnight bicycle adventures. The PPTC distills Adventure Cycling's decades' worth of experience in organizing and leading bicycle tours, and wraps it into a three-day package that will impart a wealth of knowledge and know-how on and off the bike. Continuing education credits are available.
"Our goal is to give adult leaders the tools they will need to take a group of kids on the adventure of a lifetime - whether it is an overnight outing or a month-long tour," says Becky Douglas, Adventure Cycling's outreach and education coordinator. "Three days of demonstrations, role-playing, lectures, and riding will hone participants' leadership skills, and point them down the road to leading successful youth bicycle adventures."
Craig Johnston, a teacher from California, led a weeklong bicycle trip with five kids along the Lewis and Clark Bicycle Trail. "We had a great multi-day bicycle trip! The kids learned so much, and found out what they could accomplish anything if they put their minds to it," said Johnston. "This trip changed the lives of these five students, and of me. We literally could not have done it without [Adventure Cycling's] support."
Douglas adds, "Overnight bike trips provide an great opportunity for youth to combine physical and mental challenges, hone social skills, learn about different regions of the world, gain confidence, and build a sense of self-sufficiency through experiential learning."
Kids are less active today then they were thirty years ago. As a result, youth obesity rates are at an all-time high and many lifestyle-related illnesses such as childhood diabetes are on the rise. The shift to an indoor childhood has accelerated in the past decade, with huge declines in spontaneous outdoor activities such as bike riding, swimming, and touch football, according to separate studies by the National Sporting Goods Association, a trade group, and American Sports Data, a research firm. Bike riding alone is down 31% since 1995.
For more information about Adventure Cycling's Pedal Pioneers Training Course, or to sign up, visit http://www.adventurecycling.org/tours/2008pedalpioneer.cfm.
Adventure Cycling Association is the premier bicycle travel organization in North America with more than 43,000 members. A nonprofit organization, our mission is to inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle. We produce routes and maps for cycling in North America, organize more than 40 tours annually, and publish the best bicycle travel information anywhere, including Adventure Cyclist magazine and The Cyclists' Yellow Pages. With 37,210 meticulously mapped miles in our route network, Adventure Cycling gives cyclists the tools and confidence to create their own bike travel adventures. Contact us at (800) 755-BIKE (2453), info@adventurecycling.org, or visit http://www.adventurecycling.org.
"Our goal is to give adult leaders the tools they will need to take a group of kids on the adventure of a lifetime - whether it is an overnight outing or a month-long tour," says Becky Douglas, Adventure Cycling's outreach and education coordinator. "Three days of demonstrations, role-playing, lectures, and riding will hone participants' leadership skills, and point them down the road to leading successful youth bicycle adventures."
Craig Johnston, a teacher from California, led a weeklong bicycle trip with five kids along the Lewis and Clark Bicycle Trail. "We had a great multi-day bicycle trip! The kids learned so much, and found out what they could accomplish anything if they put their minds to it," said Johnston. "This trip changed the lives of these five students, and of me. We literally could not have done it without [Adventure Cycling's] support."
Douglas adds, "Overnight bike trips provide an great opportunity for youth to combine physical and mental challenges, hone social skills, learn about different regions of the world, gain confidence, and build a sense of self-sufficiency through experiential learning."
Kids are less active today then they were thirty years ago. As a result, youth obesity rates are at an all-time high and many lifestyle-related illnesses such as childhood diabetes are on the rise. The shift to an indoor childhood has accelerated in the past decade, with huge declines in spontaneous outdoor activities such as bike riding, swimming, and touch football, according to separate studies by the National Sporting Goods Association, a trade group, and American Sports Data, a research firm. Bike riding alone is down 31% since 1995.
For more information about Adventure Cycling's Pedal Pioneers Training Course, or to sign up, visit http://www.adventurecycling.org/tours/2008pedalpioneer.cfm.
Adventure Cycling Association is the premier bicycle travel organization in North America with more than 43,000 members. A nonprofit organization, our mission is to inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle. We produce routes and maps for cycling in North America, organize more than 40 tours annually, and publish the best bicycle travel information anywhere, including Adventure Cyclist magazine and The Cyclists' Yellow Pages. With 37,210 meticulously mapped miles in our route network, Adventure Cycling gives cyclists the tools and confidence to create their own bike travel adventures. Contact us at (800) 755-BIKE (2453), info@adventurecycling.org, or visit http://www.adventurecycling.org.
March 19, 2008
New Program Aims to Educate 10,000 Women in Poor Countries
By Sam Kean
The investment firm Goldman Sachs and 16 universities around the world have announced a plan to spend $100-million providing business education to 10,000 women in developing countries.
The program, called 10,000 Women, hopes to spread good business practices throughout poor regions in Africa and Asia, to help those regions improve local economies. Goldman Sachs says that it views women in developing countries as an underdeveloped resource because very few of them receive any sort of education.
Most women in the program will earn management certificates in courses that range from a little over a month to six months. According to Goldman Sachs, the women will study topics such as “drafting a business plan, accounting, public speaking, marketing, management, and accessing capital” to support larger projects. The program also hopes to establish business networks and mentor programs for women.
In addition, a few women will receive scholarships to travel to universities and study for a bachelor’s degree in business or a master of business administration degree (MBA). Universities in Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Tanzania, and other countries are partners in the program. U.S. business schools at places such as Columbia and Harvard Universities will also participate.
Goldman Sachs has pledged $100-million over five years to the program. The money will expand certificate programs that some universities already run, improve teacher training, and help to hire more teachers. Goldman Sachs employees will also consult for the program and contribute time and financial expertise.
The investment firm Goldman Sachs and 16 universities around the world have announced a plan to spend $100-million providing business education to 10,000 women in developing countries.
The program, called 10,000 Women, hopes to spread good business practices throughout poor regions in Africa and Asia, to help those regions improve local economies. Goldman Sachs says that it views women in developing countries as an underdeveloped resource because very few of them receive any sort of education.
Most women in the program will earn management certificates in courses that range from a little over a month to six months. According to Goldman Sachs, the women will study topics such as “drafting a business plan, accounting, public speaking, marketing, management, and accessing capital” to support larger projects. The program also hopes to establish business networks and mentor programs for women.
In addition, a few women will receive scholarships to travel to universities and study for a bachelor’s degree in business or a master of business administration degree (MBA). Universities in Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Tanzania, and other countries are partners in the program. U.S. business schools at places such as Columbia and Harvard Universities will also participate.
Goldman Sachs has pledged $100-million over five years to the program. The money will expand certificate programs that some universities already run, improve teacher training, and help to hire more teachers. Goldman Sachs employees will also consult for the program and contribute time and financial expertise.
Thanks to a Nonprofit Group of Guides, Visually Impaired Skiers Don't Have to Forgo Flights Down the Mountain
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
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
March 17, 2008
Environmental awareness fuels support
By Todd Cohen, March 10, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Nature Conservancy in 2007 received $75,000 from Duke Energy and $500,000 from Bank of America that represented savings resulting from requests by investors and customers for electronic versions of the companies' reports and billing statements.
"Corporations are recognizing that their customers are indeed concerned about global environmental issues," says Mike Horak, associate director of philanthropy for The Nature Conservancy.
Buoyed by growing public awareness of issues like global warming and urban sprawl, and their impact on land, air and water, local environmental groups are seeing more interest and support...
To read the complete article, please visit PhilanthropyJournal.org.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Nature Conservancy in 2007 received $75,000 from Duke Energy and $500,000 from Bank of America that represented savings resulting from requests by investors and customers for electronic versions of the companies' reports and billing statements.
"Corporations are recognizing that their customers are indeed concerned about global environmental issues," says Mike Horak, associate director of philanthropy for The Nature Conservancy.
Buoyed by growing public awareness of issues like global warming and urban sprawl, and their impact on land, air and water, local environmental groups are seeing more interest and support...
To read the complete article, please visit PhilanthropyJournal.org.
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