Alex Cairns is bringing sit-skiing out of bounds

THE PARALYMPIAN IS LIKELY THE FIRST SIT-SKIER TO DROP INTO MOUNT CURRIE’S DIAGONAL COULOIR, BUT HE’S NOT CHASING FIRSTS

BY MEGAN LALONDE

A HANDFUL OF “FIRSTS” have already been shot down in adaptive skiing. Like the first sit-ski backflip, landed by Josh Dueck in Whistler back in 2012, or the first-ever doublebackflip, stuck this winter by Colorado’s Trevor Kennison, the same sit-skier who gained notoriety for airing into Corbet’s Couloir in Jackson, Wyo. a few years ago.

Squamish Paralympian Alex Cairns is fairly confident he can claim a few of his own. The athlete is among the first—if not the only—adaptive skiers to descend a score of Whistler’s gnarlier in- and out-of-bounds lines, like Blackcomb’s D.O.A. and Body Bag Bowl, in a single sit-ski. But those aren’t feats he’s chasing—or particularly proud of, for that matter.

“Everything in a sit-ski is a first right now, which is kind of hilarious,” he said.

“I think the only reason you want to get a ‘first’ as a sit-skier is to change the perspective of able-bodied skiers … so they can understand where the sport is at and what we can do. That will open up a lot more doors.”

Justin Vadeboncoeur was standing near Blackcomb Mountain’s summit on April 4 when he spotted Cairns, his sister Kristina Cairns and friend Jimmy Martinello below, bootpacking up Disease Ridge before launching themselves down a steep face into the Body Bag. Vadeboncoeur snapped a few photos and posted the shots to the Whistler Winter Facebook group, where they drew more than 700 likes and 70 comments praising the crew’s feat as “inspirational.”

Cairns is hesitant to accept the adulation, instead throwing all the credit to his sister and Martinello for offering to carry his equipment up Disease Ridge. Cairns was born with spina bifida, a condition that manifested in paralysis at the two lowest vertebrae, but left him with enough mobility to crutch around. The climb that would typically take an ablebodied skier about an hour took Cairns and co. more like two, with Cairns making his way up using his outriggers as supports.

Even with the extra weight, “it wasn’t that far of a walk for us,” Cairns explained. “It was something we did, because we had time for it.

The ski line isn’t that steep—it’s a pretty line, and it’s a lot of fun, but it’s kind of frustrating that the sport’s still in this position where a line like that blows people’s minds … There’s a lot more in the tank, and a lot more we could have done in an afternoon off.”

There is, however, one line Cairns called “maybe the first one I’m proud to have been a part of.”

It happened in Pemberton, about a week prior to skiing Disease Ridge, when Cairns shredded down Mount Currie’s Diagonal Couloir alongside a crew including Martinello; Jon Burak, publisher and co-founder of Mountain Life Magazine; and John Johnson, who Cairns estimates has skied the line on 15 occasions, give or take. A helicopter dropped the group off on top of the peak, but it was up to them to make it out.

“That was definitely the first time I felt out there a little bit, even though you’re staring right into town,” said Cairns.

It wasn’t the dreamiest snow conditions, with “massive chunks of ice and debris” littered along some of the avalanche paths, but it was a fun day with incredible views, safe avalanche conditions and a knowledgeable crew Cairns credited with knowing the exact turns and the right calls to make to navigate back to the valley without any uphill travel.

“I can’t really ask for much more than that,” he said.

He estimates it took six hours from the helipad to reach the truck, with only half an hour of that spent walking. n