Volunteering at Ignite Adaptive Sports at Eldora Mountain Resort meant more than spending long hours in sometimes numbing cold, snow and winter winds to help people with disabilities learn to ski and snowboard. It also involved grueling efforts.
The physical burden will be eased this winter thanks to Eldora’s new Caribou Lodge, half of which will serve as a new home for Ignite adaptive sports. Volunteers will no longer have to push adaptive athletes in sit skis 300 feet up the mountain to reach the lifts that Ignite athletes use most often. An elevator to the third floor takes students and volunteers to a 100-foot bridge that provides direct access to these elevators.
“By providing a dedicated space with direct access to lifts and trails, we are removing barriers and creating opportunities for individuals of all abilities to experience the fun of winter sports,” said Hunter Wright, director of sustainability and special projects for Eldora mountain resort. “It also promotes greater diversity on the mountain.”
The new lodge, located in the Eldora Learning Area approximately 1,000 feet southeast of the main base area, will house Ignite Adaptive on the first floor and a children’s ski school on the second floor. There is a kitchen on the second floor where you can eat and drink. There are plenty of toilets on both levels, which will be a great relief for everyone. Ignite’s old setup was extremely spartan.
“They were two double-wide mobile homes that had been there for over 20 years, and they were quite worn,” said Sam Bass, Eldora’s marketing director. “There were two toilet trailers. They were also very old and tired and not very pleasant. Everything here is such a big upgrade.”
The building’s attractive, two-tone exterior is finished with dark brown wood siding and gray stone. The sidewalk in front of the building is made of heated concrete to prevent ice build-up, as is an outdoor patio on the second floor. The roof is covered with solar panels that provide all the electrical needs of the building.
The children’s learning center includes a small sports shop, equipment rental and a café. There’s a large, carpeted seating area, so inviting that Eldora general manager Brent Tregaskis calls it “the family room.”
Ignite is the only adaptive snow sports program in the Front Range. It started with ten University of Colorado students who wanted to improve the lives of classmates with disabilities, and it’s about to enter its 50th season. The new headquarters has the appearance of a modern clubhouse with large TV screens, a spacious gathering area with tables and space for adapted equipment.
“We’ve been working on this for a little over nine years, and look at this place,” Tregaskis said. “They have 5,000 square feet. Compared to the small sheds that stood there in recent years, a huge improvement. What a beautiful facility here in the beginner area.”
The message it sends is that adaptive athletes are not only housed or accepted at Eldora, but their presence is honored and celebrated. Conor Hall, director of Colorado’s Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, saw that when he represented the governor’s office at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.
“We need to provide more equitable access to the outdoors and different ways to enjoy the outdoors, including skiing,” Hall said. “That should be a right, not a privilege. Programs like Ignite are incredibly important in that mission, and a building like this is a huge step forward.”
Ignite’s executive director, Carol Nickell, said the way the building turned out is far greater than what she had hoped or expected.
“We knew we were building a building, we knew it was a high quality building, but this goes so much further,” Nickell said. “It is so difficult to put into words what our volunteers do. They do 100% of our lessons, but they do more. They own this program. They change lives. And now they don’t have to push people up the hill.”
However, more help is needed. Nickell said about 20% of people with disabilities who wanted to take a class at Eldora last year couldn’t be accommodated because there weren’t enough volunteers. Ignite currently has about 315.
“We could probably use another 100 to 150,” Nickell said. “That would help us provide at least one lesson to everyone who wants a lesson.”