Learning from the wild

Jason Veta, 15, said he had sledded once but he had never been on snowshoes before.

"My mom almost didn't let me come today," he said. "She worries about me because I have foot problems."

Jason stopped at the first station of the quarter-mile obstacle course where he hit a tennis ball with a racket and beaned the photographer on his second try. He said he was going to tell his mother he had fun.

Jason was one of about 20 special needs students and their teachers who went snowshoeing in Hope Valley on Feb. 15 through a program started by Pat Fried, owner of Great Basin Sports.

Fried, an outfitter guide for paddle and snow sports, said this is the first of more trips for special needs students.

"They had the biggest smiles on their faces," she said. "Some of these kids are wheelchair-bound and it's their first time doing this. I'm excited to take them.

"We'll do something with the kids once a month. When the snow melts, we'll break out the kayaks," she said.

After practicing safety in a swimming pool, the students and instructors will kayak on a river.

Fried set up a lending library so students may check out equipment at their schools. She's purchased snowshoes already but hopes to add more equipment in the future.

"We'll be needing sleds for the kids to be in an upright position," she said about the students who use wheelchairs.

The day's fun was made possible because of Hope Valley and donated sleds from Sierra Sleds.

Jeff Hendricks, adaptive P.E. teacher at Carson Valley secondary schools, had taken a group of high school students off the course and into the trees to snowshoe.

"We had a wide variety of ability levels," said Hendricks. "Anybody can do it. A lot of times they don't think they can do anything so this is a good opportunity to show them they can."

"Running in the snow was the best part," said Taylor Ireland, 14. "I got timed and did 9.7 seconds. I fell down twice, but I'm tough. I didn't get hurt."