BRAILLE MOUNTAIN INITIATIVE

Braille Mountain Initiative Tyson Rettie

BY MARTA MANZONI PHOTOS RYAN CREARY

Before becoming blind within two years, Tyson Rettie was a Canadian Mountain Guide, helicopter rescuer and avalanche professional. His life has changed in many ways, except one: Tyson Rettie has never stopped practicing ski mountaineering in unspoiled nature and climbing mountains.

Soon he had the desire to share these experiences, making them possible for other people with his same disability: in May 2020, the Braille Mountain Initiative was born, a non-profit organization with the aim of inspiring blind and visually impaired people and make them participate in backcountry adventures in the mountains.

The Braille Mountain Initiative is the first project in the world of this type: the goal is to regularly offer ski mountaineering programs for blind people.

Would you tell us your story? Before becoming blind two years ago due to a rare disease called Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, I was working here in Canada as a Mountain Guide, helicopter rescuer, and avalanche professional. At the end of November 2018, I started to lose sight in my right eye and in two weeks I could no longer see anything. Eight months later, in the summer of 2019, the same thing happened to my left eye and at that point I became blind.

Right now I can’t recognize people's faces, read or drive. I can hardly move around a room and vaguely recognize the blurred outlines of objects inside it. I stopped working as a Mountain Guide and helicopter rescuer but I never stopped skiing with friends.

How and when was the Initiative born? When I became blind, I immediately started looking for a way to use my skills as a mountain expert for people with disabilities, and I did some research. There were only a few opportunities for beginners to take lessons, always staying close to the hotels, never going into unspoiled nature. I soon realized that there were no ski mountaineering programs for blind people who had a good level and wanted to embark on new challenges and adventures in the mountains. I realized it would be great to share these experiences with other blind and visually impaired athletes and skiers: so in May 2020 I founded the Braille Mountain Initiative, a non-profit organization that aims to inspire people to experience the backcountry and concretely create opportunities to do that.

How is the project going? What are the activities you propose? The project grew rapidly and I immediately found several partners and supporters who believed in it. We immediately ran out of places available for the first multi-day trip that we proposed and at the moment there is a waiting list for the next events we have organized. In the spring of 2021 we will take four blind skiers and their guides to Canada in a remote cabin in the mountains for a week of ski mountaineering. I am sure this experience will change every participant's life. The prerequisite for applying for this adventure was to be an experienced skier with a good level of fitness. No previous backcountry experience needed: since there were no programs like this it was unlikely that blind skiers would have had the opportunity to develop a previous experience. During these programs there will also be sighted guides for safety reasons, in a skiing environment for each blind person it is important to have a sighted skier following. We believe that the best thing is that this person is someone important in the blind person's "skier life", like a friend with whom they practiced this sport in the past and want to continue doing it. In addition, for safety reasons there will always be some Mountain Guides who will work with us, some as volunteers, others paid.

Why do you think ski mountaineering is a unique opportunity for blind people? The choice to spend a week in a remote cabin is not accidental: it allows easy access to the open alpine terrain, and in this way participants will have the opportunity to ski as if they did not have a visual disability. On powder, with no people or obsta-

cles around them, they will be able to ski fast, free and independent. In this environment you can tell blind people that they are free to ski without finding any impediment in front of them for several meters. It becomes a real challenge. Being able to conquer the top of a mountain is another fundamental aspect: it gives courage and confidence about your abilities. Being alone up there is another unique and precious feeling. You can’t find all of this on slopes where you have so many noises, distractions, obstacles and barriers around you. During the stay, information on safety, avalanche recovery and how to rescue companions will be included in the program.

In Italy there’s a lot of talking about Mountain Therapy. What is the therapeutic power of the mountain for blind people? How important is it to promote psychophysical well-being? For me the mountains represent the possibility of continuing to overcome new challenges, understanding how far I am able to go. For many people, becoming blind means losing some of their independence and practicing backcountry can restore this feeling of autonomy. To move forward we all need to hold on to some new challenges and happy thoughts, and ski mountaineering can be all of that.

On the mountains we are all equal, there are no sick and healthy people. We forget about labels such as "blind", "disability", "behaviour disorders." Is that true? That's absolutely true! In the mountains we are no longer blind skiers but only skiers. Often when I happen to ski with other blind people near the hotels in the valley, for safety reasons we are obliged to wear a fluorescent yellow jacket that signals that we are disabled in order for other skiers to pay attention to us. This identification obligation does not exist when you practice ski mountaineering in unspoiled nature: we can simply ski as everyone. In this way we feel part of the group like any other skier.

Does the experience lived in backcountry help you to better face the obstacles of existence? What are the benefits you have found? These experiences really help in developing a sense of hope in everyday life. Knowing that you can go back to do ski mountaineering and feel strong emotions reduce negative thoughts and promotes the ability to concentrate and your self-confidence. The mind lets itself go, new ideas and solutions emerge: pure air, physical activity, the scents and sounds of the mountain favor general well-being even in the days following the trips. Every day I get up, I think that when I want I can go out there on my skins and this thought gives me incredible strength and enthusiasm.

Do you ever get scared while skiing? What are your feelings? I practice ski mountaineering almost every day, yet for the first two or three turns I always hesitate a little even though I have been practicing this activity as a blind person for two winters. It's still a good challenge. Even if people tell me that for three or four hundred meters I have nothing in front of me, it still has a certain effect at the beginning, I’m not that sure about which terrain and slope I will find. After the first few turns, however, I get comfortable and feel at ease again. Also for this reason I believe that skiing with the same friends helps to feel safer, it is easier to trust them. I would not call these feelings "fear" but “hesitation".

Why do the programs you offer last one week? We want these experiences to represent a starting point: the goal is to offer tools and notions to allow blind people to continue practicing ski mountaineering in the future, even on their own. This is why the program includes safety courses and we recommend you to come with friends and family with whom you intend to go back on the mountains in the future.

Are you in contact with other realities outside Canada? Are you going to expand the project by involving new countries? Yes, I would really love that! Unfortunately, the pandemic is slowing everything down but we are already working in this direction: I would like to offer the opportunity to participate in programs like the ones we have thought of for all blind skiers in Canada. However, I have also already come into contact with other realities in the United States that are very interested. I would really like to involve new countries and continents soon, such as New Zealand, Europe, Asia. That would be really cool.

What feedbacks did you get about the Initiative? I’ve got some really very positive feedbacks, both from sighted and from blind people. They told me that I have been an inspiration to many, I have shown what is really possible to do even if you are blind. Many people are happy that there is such a reality as the Braille Mountain Initiative. In essence, it is the demonstration that anything is possible. The solidarity that I have discovered in the last two years was also fantastic, especially from Mountain Guides and rescuers. Many of them have supported me, with donations, volunteering, practical actions, believing in me and in the Initiative. I think some of these people have also put themselves in my shoes and reflected on what has happened to me wondering how they would behave if something similar happened to them: would I be able to go on if my life changed so radically?

What are your future goals? Regarding the Initiative, we would like to expand the offer and include other activities, such as climbing, trekking, mountaineering. Personally, in parallel with my work for the Initiative, I am looking for new opportunities to work in the sector as a Mountain Guide by making my skills available. I hope that new opportunities will open up after the pandemic.