Alex Cairns comes across as a reluctant competitive athlete.
There鈥檚 no question that he loves sports and has a passion for sit skiing. But when pressed about his achievements, the buff 23-year-old simply replies that he loves to ski.聽
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think about racing right away,鈥� Cairns says after admitting his mother and grandparents were the first to sign him up for sit skiing. 鈥淚 was just riding in the park with my friends.鈥�
Cairns was born with spina bifida, a defect in which there is incomplete closing around the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord. He is paralyzed at the two lowest vertebraes in the lumbar spine but has quad strength.聽
It鈥檚 something he has grown up with, which means it鈥檚 his norm, Cairns explains. Doctors encouraged Cairns to bike and in typical 麻豆社国产fashion he did but took his pursuit of the sport further by competing in provincial downhill races.聽
鈥淢aybe that鈥檚 not what the doctors had in mind,鈥� he admits, noting he had an adapted bike.
At age 16, Cairns tore his knee, putting an end to cycling. When his mother first brought up the idea of sit skiing, he wasn鈥檛 completely sold. But after watching some YouTube videos featuring sit ski freestyle tricks, he decided it didn鈥檛 鈥渓ook like a disabled sport.鈥澛�
So he gave it a go, with the aim to have fun. Zipping down the ski slopes, Cairns鈥檚 respect for the activity grew.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a sport,鈥� Cairns says, before pausing. 鈥淏ut it still is people sitting on glorified toilets going 125 kilometres down a hill.鈥�
In 2009, Cairns watched athletes in sit ski slalom races during the provincial championships at Blackcomb. Since then, he鈥檚 been in between the start gates, first with the provincial team and now with the Canadian Alpine Para Ski Team. Cairns has a provincial and national slalom gold medal under his belt, a season packed with World Cups ahead and his eyes on the Paralympics in South Korea in 2018.聽
Last month, Cairns returned to 麻豆社国产after training in Chile. His first trip outside of North America just happened to place him in a massive 8.3 magnitude earthquake. Luckily, Valle Nevado, a ski resort 46 kilometres east of Santiago, was relatively untouched.
鈥淚 think one ceiling panel fell down,鈥� Cairns says.
Next week, Cairns will head to Austria. After that, it鈥檚 off to B.C.鈥檚 Panorama Mountain Resort before flying to Colorado, he says, while looking up his crowded schedule on his cellphone.聽
Cairns has to pay for his equipment and a $10,000 team fee. He鈥檚 set up an online GoFundMe site 鈥� www.gofundme.com/alexcairns 鈥� to help cover those bills. Cairns also plans to host a fundraiser at the 麻豆社国产Valley Golf Course near the end of October. The time is yet to be announced.
Being a sit ski athlete does draw attention to oneself on the slopes, Cairns admits. Often with it comes Cairns鈥檚 most-hated saying, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e so inspirational.鈥�
Cairns says he sees inspiration in his fellow teammates, people who have had to overcome situations of loss. He鈥檚 met soldiers who entered the sport after losing their legs in the Gulf War. He trains with an athlete who is slowing becoming blind.聽
鈥淚 have lived with this disability, which is different. I didn鈥檛 lose anything,鈥� he says.
Cairns is purely doing what he loves to do 鈥� ski. His favourite days are when he鈥檚 on Whistler with his friends, hunting for steep faces and chasing fresh tracks and deep power. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just fun. I know what my sit ski can do and I know what I can do,鈥� he says.聽
