finally this evening let's face it skiing is not everyone's idea of a good time and staring up at a mountain can be intimidating yeah at the same time being told you have a disability well that could be a whole other Mountain to conquer that new center remains David Guildford and Jake Richards met two young men who can show all of us how far you can go with a strong friendship and a pair of skis the silhouette of New Hampshire's Attitash Mountain comes into view Before Dawn that's when Grant Eri
ckson and Ryan McClintock start their day Ryan you're getting something oh oh I need that pulse man thanks they're not here to catch the first chair no they're taking the longer harder way up we're gonna be on this one they've been skiing together since 2004 after Ryan's mom Elaine Greene first got him up on a mountain so we'll make it we will and he's a good decision maker even though he can't always verbally convey that an external challenge to go along with the one he was facing inside himsel
f okay right you remember how to do the skins Ryan has autism yeah you got it I was right on top of it he's also a talented skier as a kid he quickly went from an Adaptive skiing program to teaching in the Adaptive program to venturing out full time with Grant a carabassett Valley Academy grad it seems Ryan specifically has accelerated very quickly progress has led them here here we are Grant you ready right training for a race that can reasonably be described as insane the pair is competing in
last skier standing an endurance race where athletes hike up a mountain using gripping ski skins and then Glide down if they do that in an hour they have the privilege of going another hour until one athlete remains it can last days is there a reason why specifically you're excited about doing last year standing yes what is it because I like to do the lap yeah you do you like doing laps we're gonna do a lot of laps are you ready for that I better be ready for that to do a lot of laughs trust me
oh man you're really moving fast today Ryan mom's certainly not standing in Ryan's way treat him like everybody else don't he he can do it he's highly capable yeah the skiing makes you feel good yeah skiing makes me feel good and it turns out skiing makes Ryan feel as good mentally as emotionally and all the sensations of skiing and having to the subtleties of edging and turning and all of that was just really good sensory input through this race Ryan and Grant are raising money for the Mount Wa
shington Valley adaptive sports program I'm hoping that to other younger kids that might have struggles like he's a good example of what you can achieve that's what we need building on Ryan's Legacy each time he Clips in in Bartlett New Hampshire David Guilford News Center Maine and that last skier standing race is set for Black Mountain in Romford starting February 10th of course as for when it ends that will be up to the skiers
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