Learn to Ski & Snowboard

What a great thing to do! Sliding down a mountain on beautiful crystals of snow. Regardless of your abilities or experience, the trained staff and instructors at Challenge Alaska will set you up for success. We are comfortable and familiar working with individuals with all types of disabilities; physical, cognitive, developmental, or any combination. Many lessons go out with standard ski or
snowboard equipment.

• For those experiencing spinal cord injuries, amputations, cerebral palsy, mobility or balance issues, we have specialized equipment like sit down mono and bi skis, handheld outriggers, snow sliders, ski tip connectors, tethers and more.
• For students who have developmental disabilities like autism, downs syndrome, fetal alcohol affect, attention deficit disorder, and other cognitive and learning delays, we adapt our teaching techniques to best suit the individual learning styles of each student, with or without equipment modifications.
• Blind, Visually Impaired, and Deaf students are taught specifically to their circumstances. We pride ourselves on helping anyone experience the joy of alpine skiing or snowboarding.

Lessons

The 2007-2008 half day lessons are $75* and full day lessons are $150*

Lessons at Challenge Alaska are based form our 4,500 square foot, accessible, ski in/ski out chalet located on the slopes of Mt. Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska, and include the following.

• All equipment needed for stand up or sit skiers, or snowboarders, including any specially adapted equipment.
• A pre-lesson assessment of individual needs, and equipment fitting
• One all-mountain, all day lift ticket
• A private lesson on the slopes, with individual instruction from teachers trained by Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) in the most current adaptive techniques: one or two instructors per student
• Day use of our chalet (including the full kitchen, couches, and fireplace) for gearing up, warm-up breaks, lunch, snacks, etc., as well as a comfortable place for family, teachers, or caregivers to wait and watch. Lesson Times and Prices

Please call several days in advance to schedule lessons.

• Morning lessons - 10:30am to 12:30pm
• Afternoon lessons - 1:30pm to 3:30pm
• Full Day lessons – 10:30 to 3:30 with 1 hour lunch break

Please show up at least one half hour early for equipment fitting, assessment, and paperwork.

Participants should come dressed for cold weather. This includes synthetic clothing (not cotton), hats, gloves, warm socks, winter coats and snow pants.

We encourage family and friends to come down and ski with our students in an inclusive experience, or watch lessons from the comfort of our chalet and share the smiles and successes.

Please call (907) 783-2925, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to schedule lessons
or for more information. Thanks for you participation.

Please visit the Ski School General Information page or the Volunteer Instructor page to learn more about the program, building, training and instructors.

Scholarships

Challenge will not turn away any student because of inability to pay full price. Simple, one page, EZ Scholarship forms are available and we encourage you to ask us about adjustments to lesson fees. In order to support the program and make services available to as many as possible, we encourage students to pay what they can afford.