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A p r i l 1 3 , 2 0 1 1 • Vo l . 4 • N o . 1 5 • w w w.T h e W e e k l y S u n . c o m
Janss Kids Photos and Story By KAREN BOSSICK
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his year organizers moved the Janss race to April, in part to accommodate spring break and the NCAA collegiate races held in March on Baldy. But the move also had the effect of allowing 28 youngsters with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation to join the big guys on the slopes since regional races are over. We talked with a few of them to see what they’ve learned from skiing and boarding on SVSEF teams:
Tanner Josey, Alpine J3 Team “I’ve learned how to be a great teammate. I’ve learned that you never put anybody down and you always tell people, ‘Say, good job!’ ” J.T. Neeley, Freestyle Prep Team “Virtue. I’ve learned about virtue in life and virtue in skiing. I’ve learned that you try hard in life and you try hard on the mountain.” Lexi Black, Alpine J3 Team “I’ve learned to trust people. Skiing is an individual sport. But it’s just as much about being on a team. I’ve learned to trust people for support and to be there when I have a really tough day and help me not beat myself up. And I’m learning to be there for them, as well.”
Griffin Curtis, Alpine J3 Team “I’ve learned to get my homework done and be responsible. It’s taught me to get out of bed at 7:30—6 on days I have a ski race. I’d stay in bed a long time if I wasn’t for that.”
There’s More on Janss
See another article on Janss on page 14.
Carey
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s t a n l e y • F a i r f i e l d • S h o sh o n e • P i c a b o
Parents: make ‘em smile with summer plans. Don’t miss the abundance of choices.
Jim Spinelli joins The Weekly Sun team Page 4
Kane reviews new sci-fi thriller Limitless Page 10
Buersmeyer talks about healthy alternatives Page 16
kids camp section this week!
The Foot Man B Photos and Story By KAREN BOSSICK
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rent Hansen would never profess to be a miracle worker. But he can help the lame to walk again. Hansen is a foot wizard for World Cup ski racers and greatgrandmothers alike—a fact alluded to by the big foot hanging outside his Ski Tek and Hansen Orthotics Lab on Sun Valley Road in Ketchum. Skiers fly in from as far away as Europe to have him sandwich their feet into the perfect ski boot fit. And that’s just for starters. Ketchum resident Sue Mendelsohn tapped Hansen to build her custom-made insoles featuring high arches made of soft gel after she had to have a total ankle replacement—a new treatment at the time. Saddled with flat feet, her feet had rolled inward for so many years that it eventually felt as if she was walking on her ankle bones. “It’s a story with a very happy ending,” said Mendelsohn. “I can walk. I can golf. But I wish I’d had Brent make me some orthotics years ago so I could have prevented all this before it happened.” Another happy customer is Chris Clark, a Seattle resident whom Hansen helped get back on skis after two faulty hip replacements left Clark without a hip, leaving one leg three inches shorter than the other. “I haven’t been able to ski in 26 years. But Brent and Jason made me a modified ski so I’m level when I’m on skis. I skied Lower River Run top to bottom non-stop today. And I’m headed for College tomorrow,” said Clark a few days ago. “I learned to ski Sun Valley in ’59 and skiing Baldy has always been the ultimate experience for me, so I’m a real happy guy. Brent and (adaptive ski instructor) Marc Mast are heroes to me.” Hansen came by his foot knowhow the hard way. He was always working on his own boots and helping fellow ski racers with theirs. An über -athlete, he was a speed skier and ski racer on the Can-Am and professional circuit. He also coached New Zealand’s Olympic team, as well as a Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation team. He even won the first Boulder Mountain Tour Nordic
Brent Hansen takes a plaster cast of a foot in sand. Ski boots are difficult to fit because they’re one shape and no two pair of feet are alike, just as no set of fingerprints are alike. Ski Tek solves that problem by using hydraulic pressure on the boot shell to make it look like the foot. They then round them out with Intuition liners and custom-made orthotics. “I can fix people’s old boots up with new liners and footbeds and save them a lot of money,” Hansen said. “We are a bit of a hotrod shop.”
race in 1973. But when a hang-gliding accident in 1990 in Greenhorn Gulch crushed his back and slightly paralyzed his calves, he had to figure out a way to just keep moving. He designed a footbed out of soft gel and leather that helps him push off and roll through his gait. Then he turned his attention to others with not-so-happy feet. Today, Hansen has three certified pedorthists at Hansen Orthotics—himself, Jeremy Hickey and Ben Schumacher. They work with some of the top orthopedic surgeons in the country. And Hansen’s constantly crafting special sandals and experimenting with different new foams and gels, using sanders and glue instead of the hammers and nails of old-time shoemakers. One of the most frequent problems Hansen sees is metatarsalgia, where a flattening of the ball of the foot caused by age causes a thinning of the fatty pad, leaving older people to feel as if they’re walking on bone. Hansen has a simple remedy: an insole with a gel that acts like a human fatty pad, cushioning the feet. “To me, an active lifestyle is the key to a happy life. My favorite doctor told me that we are like sharks. If we don’t keep moving, we die! “I’ll do what it takes to get people active again, to get them tws back on their feet.”
rent Hansen and Ski Tek
“To me, an active lifestyle is the key to a happy life… If we don’t keep moving, we die!” –Brent Hansen Ski Tek, Ketchum
Jason Georgiades, from Tropos Design in Bellevue, made this ski lift for Chris Clark with the help of Brent Hansen. “Jason can take any idea I have and make it way better than I dreamed!” says Hansen.
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