The Sit-skier from Sam Dobrin on Vimeo.
You can find him several times a week at the Nelson Nordic Ski club, but he’s had to endure more than the average skier just to get there.
In 1985 Jim Hudec suffered a logging accident that would leave him paralyzed.
“At first when you’re laying in the bed there you can’t even sit up… you think, this isn’t going to work, but with time it gets better,” said Hudec.
With a background of skiing, snowmobiling and dirt biking, he wouldn’t let his injury keep him from staying active. He picked up wheelchair racing right away and has been doing so for the last 25 years.
“I had a friend that was [in the hospital] too and we started wheeling right when we were in G.F. Strong, just in our regular chairs… we started just about immediately,” he said.
After about 10 years, Jim and his wife decided to start skiing and attended a sitski clinic in Vernon.
“We finally bought one and we really loved it, it’s really a lot of fun,” said Hudec.
“I guess I should have started 10 years before.”
