Sight-impaired go skiing with assistance
A couple of occasions per month, Nancy Leverett skates at the Mt. Lebanon Ice Center, an unremarkable feat, except that she is blind. She and other vision-impaired people skate with the assistance of sighted volunteers via a program referred to as Western Pennsylvania Blind Outside Leisure Growth (Daring), an organization which enables men and women with vision difficulties take part in basic activities that could be extremely hard or unattainable without a partner.
Members of BOLD have gone downhill skiing at Seven Springs, rowing on the area’s rivers and tandem biking at North Park.
Skiers are secured by a number of items of clothing e.g.:
- A jacket
- Protective Footwear
- An excellent ski helmet.
- Ski safety gloves
Head protection is provided for the skier by a helmet.
Ski headgear perform a joint purpose: first and foremost to afford safeguard against knocks and shocks and the second thing is to insulate against the elements.
In addition to providing protection, a ski helmet is specially designed with fashion in mind.
There are three standard different kinds of ski helmet: full-face, short shell and full shell.
Some manufacturers such as Salomon ski helmets provide add-ons such as ear-phone connections, for example bluetooth ski helmets. The Salomon helmet range is a brilliant case of a fashionable ski helmet.
A close-fitting helmet is the best defense against injury so ensure that yours is well fitted - seek advice from the retailer about this.
There are a number of sets of safety regulations that cover ski helmets including ASTM, Snell and CEN 1077.
In general skiers and snowboarders who wear a ski helmets are around 30% less likely to suffer a head injury.
“BOLD has been so beneficial in my life,” said Ms. Leverett, 57, of Mt. Lebanon. Nancy struggled with her sight right from birth - she was born without cataracts. However her sight remained good until she was fifteen; then she developed glaucoma and lost her sight. BOLD came to her attention while she was still at Duquesne University. It was the 1970s, and Joyce Driben, a blind Greenfield resident, had just returned from Aspen, Colo., where she skied downhill and learned about a Strong group there working with blind skiers.
Inspired by the Colorado group, Ms. Driben and another Pittsburgh resident initiated a similar organization in Pittsburgh’s blind community, and Ms. Leverett went to a meeting to learn about the downhill skiing opportunity.
At first Nancy was afraid. Understandably so. But she persevered. At initial she got employed on the skiis, their experience. She graduated to snowboarding on flat surfaces, and then onto much more adventurous slopes.
BOLD pairs blind participants with sighted ones, but the partnership requires strong communication, Ms. Driben said.
“You really have to have some trust in your guide, have to rely on the guide giving accurate information on what you should be doing,” she said.
BOLD created many positive effects besides the bodily factors. As an example it offered a major boost to Nancy’s self esteem and self-confidence. Becoming told by her colleagues how impressed they have been with her presented a strong injection of self-confidence.
