Cam's dad never experienced "snow days" in his younger years since he lived in Arizona and Washington state for most of his schooling until college. Cam's mom recalls some days off growing up due to heavy snow.


Nick's sister, Brooke, has been to Cam's baseball games as well as the Halloween parades. We think Cam may have a little crush on her :)


An instructor is paired with the adaptive skier and they're able to hit the slopes for an entire two hours. We arrived at 9:30a ready for 10 o'clock start time. Cam was assigned to Rick, his instructor and Rick's son, Ben, who acted as the 'blocker' making certain others don't ski too close. As an added bonus, Chris brought his snowboard and was offered a discounted lift ticket to join in the fun. Since he was able to board alongside, he captured some great video of Cam in action! Although Cam wasn't sure at first, after his first run down, he declared "This is awesome!" Over and over again, up the chairlift and down the slopes they went.
Afterwards, we were able to warm up in the lodge and have lunch before getting ready to go. In the meantime, one of our local news crews had arrived. Mary Free Bed asked if we would chat with them to talk about our experience.
Here's the link to the Wood TV8 story:
Cannonsburg! Click here
From Wood Radio: A partnership between Cannonsburg Ski Area and Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital allowed a group of kids with special abilities to hit the slopes on Saturday. Specialized equipment like downhill ski sleds and arm riggers helped to ensure that children of all abilities shredded down the slopes. Jane Weatherford is no stranger to the challenges her son, Cam, faces. While he is typically bound to his power chair, on Saturday, he was free. “Having that freedom. Like anyone else, skiing,” Weatherford said. “Having that freedom of sitting and being able to go down the hill like everybody else on skis, it's incredible." No mogul too sick, no bump too gangly. “What’s important for us, too, is that community at large sees the inclusiveness and the inclusion of people who normally don't have the ability to do things like this,” Weatherford said. Things any kid would enjoy like something just as simple as freedom – and going fast.

Before the end of the evening, Cam made certain Jane had sent out an email about adaptive skiing, ensuring we knew when signup would take place for the next season. Our son may be excited about hitting the slopes next year, but his parents are even more giddy about the possibility for our family to participate in a sport available to us all.
Camology Quotes:
On Saturday, when we arrived at Cannonsburg, it was still below freezing, but by the time were ready to leave a little after 12p, the parking lot had turned into a slushy mess. As we waited in line to drive up the hill to exit, we realized we would be waiting quite some time as we watched one vehicle after another become stuck.
Cam, in his infinite wisdom, announced:
"This is not my idea of fun."
"Someone needs to call the police."
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