Winter X Games 13 Mono Skier X
World’s Top Disabled Skiers to Bang & Clack in Grueling Course Race
Jan 17, 2009
The Mono Skier X is a furious race where mono skiers rip over a course of tabletop jumps, banked turns, rollers, and gaps at speeds approaching 80 miles an hour. The event is modeled on and run on the same course as the Boardercross and Skier X races.
The race debuted at Winter X Games 11 in 2005 and made the jump to medal event in 2007. The Mono Skier Cross is now a centerpiece of the Winter X games, the first global sporting event to include disabled athletes.
Most mono skiers are either amputees or have paralysis due to a spinal cord injury; the event is also open to blind and visually impaired skiers.
The qualifying round starts Friday, January 23; the finals are Sunday and will be televised during ESPN’s coverage (2:00 to 6:00 PM, EST).
What is a Mono Ski?
A mono ski is a bucket seat on a metal chassis with shock mounted on a single alpine ski with hand outriggers for balance. The average mono ski weighs about 50 pounds.
Peter Axelson developed the first “sit skis” (used by mobility impaired athletes in programs such as Ski For Light) and modified “pulks” (kayak-like sleds for those with poor balance or without use of their legs) in the mid 1970s. The first mono skis with mounted seats, an adaptation yielding more maneuverability, appeared in 1982 and have continuously evolved.
Today, some top athletes design their own skis. Kevin Bramble of the US Disabled Ski Team began building his own mono skis in the late 1990s and rode them to Paralympic gold in the downhill in Salt Lake City (2002) and Turin (2006).
Mono Skiers and the Mono Ski X Event
Kevin Bramble is a favorite in this year’s race; along with defending champion KJ Van Der Klooster of Holland. The Disabled World Cup, taking place in Europe, winnows this year’s field, including many from the US Disabled Ski Team.
Making his Winter X Games debut is Erik Corbett (Glen, NH), who runs the Mount Attitash adaptive ski program for AbilityPLUS. Corbett won the Eastern Regional Disabled Mono Ski championships in 2006 and 2007 and authors the Monoskier.com blog.
Another New Hampshire resident, Tyler Walker, won the first Mono Skier X gold medal in 2007.
Kevin Jardine, director of competition for the adaptive ski program Challenge Aspen, developed the Mono Skier X’s three-category format (standing, sitting, and visually impaired) also used at the Disabled World Cup and the Paralympics.
Mono Skier X seeding is straightforward: the 2008 medalists receive byes to the semifinals and are seeded 1, 2, and 3. The rest compete for five remaining spots in qualifying runs. The top three from Qualifying Run 1 the top two from Run 2 (which provides a second chance for Run 1 non-qualifiers) advance. The semifinals are two, four-skier heats, the top two in each advancing to the finals—a single race of four, first racer to the bottom wins.
Popularity of the Mono Skier X race continues to grow. “Everyone watches because it’s so amazing what these athletes are doing, and the control, the upper body strength that’s required,” said ESPN’s Danny Chi.
While Paralympians slowly gain parity with non-disabled athletes, most event coverage is after the fact. The ESPN Winter X Games is changing that, letting the disabled catch air on the slopes, and airtime around the world.
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