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The Kings & Queens of Corbet’s pushes the boundaries of what’s possible on snow. Trevor Kennison expanded those boundaries even further by being the first person to send the nose of Corbet’s Couloir on a sit-ski.
His run instantly took the action sports world by storm and launched his career as an athlete and advocate for adaptive sports. Watch as Trevor opens up about his life-altering injury and his journey to the Kings & Queens of Corbet’s with Travis Rice and friends.
Five years ago Trevor Kennison knew mid-air he was in serious trouble, life-or-death trouble. A snowboard strapped to his feet, he had launched himself off a 40-foot jump near the top of the 10,662-foot-high Vail Pass in Colorado.
Kennison, an expert snowboarder and avid outdoorsman, was last in the group of three friends to jump. The Keene native had navigated tougher terrain than this — jumps and cliffs with 60-foot drops — so he says he wasn’t intimidated yet was respectful of the danger.
But sometimes things go wrong. He broke a bone in his back and fractured his T11 and T12 vertebrae in his spinal cord, leaving him with no feeling in his legs below his knees. Surgeons stabilized his back with two 12-inch titanium rods, 12 screws and two braces in six hours of surgery.
Now Kennison uses a single wide ski, known as a mono ski, attached to a chair. Adaptive ski poles, called outriggers, are then used to help control his speed, balance, turning and stopping.
Kennison lives in Winter Park, Colorado, and has taken the adaptive skiing world by storm. His Instagram page — with more than 20,000 followers — features video after video of Kennison hitting 60-foot jumps, nailing back flips and grinding guard rails.
He’s also been featured in short ski films, has traveled around the world and is a High Fives athlete. The California-based nonprofit organization provides grants for rehabilitation support to athletes with life-altering injuries as a result of mountain sports.
“It’s pretty crazy how it’s all blown up,” he said.
Kennison is both a ski racer and freeskier — a style performed on natural, ungroomed terrain without a set course or rules — which he said is fairly uncommon among professionals.
But he said he just can’t get enough.
“I live it, I breathe it, and I’m constantly doing it,” he said.
In the Paralympics, to be held in Beijing in March of 2022, Kennison will be competing in slalom racing — an alpine-skiing discipline involving skiing between poles or gates, and the only category for competitive skiing.
He will represent Colombia, his mother’s home country, in the competition, as he’s in the process of becoming a dual citizen.
And though he’s thrilled to have this chance to compete, he admits he’s just grateful he’s come this far.
After all, being on the mountain is all he’s ever wanted to do.
“I get smiley just thinking about,” he said.
Source: sentinelsource.com
