LOCALadk Magazine

Top: Kelsey continues to patrol - when she's not training for the Paralympic Games. Photo credit: Siobhan Monahan Center: Kelsey on course in preperation for Milan- Cortina 2026. Photo credit: FIS / Action Press Bottom: Kelsey races in all five adapative alpine skiing events, including Downhill, Super G, Alpine Combined, Giant Slalom, and Slalom. Photo credit: FIS / Action Press LOCALadk 27 plete opposite. "So many patients were like, 'If you can get through that, I can get through this,'" she says in true Kelsey demeanor. "What I thought would be a neg- ative turned into a positive." From adaptive skier to paralympian Kelsey was incredibly fortunate to have resources available locally to help her exceed. The available adap- tive programs helped her imagine a future on snow again. Gore's adaptive program, Vermont Adaptive at Sugarbush Resort, and the High Fives Foundation came to the foreground. She first tried adaptive racing al- most on a whim. "I was in love by the third turn," she says. She later began training at the National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park, and she realized this wasn't just something she enjoyed. The Olympics are something she could actually pursue seriously. "I'm familiar with racing sports," she says, having competed in track and cross country through Division I college. "It's been really fun to light that fire again." That fire has carried her all the way to the interna- tional stage. The BIG stage. After competing at the World Championships, the Paralympic Games no longer felt like a general idea to her. She could actually make it. "It felt like a pipe dream," she admits. "But it was a dream I couldn't get out of my head." That dream of hers has a destination. Kelsey found a way to make a tragedy a trajectory. After a few years of intense training and hard work, she's competing in the Milan– Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games March 6 to March 15, 2026. Kelsey will compete in all five alpine skiing events, including Downhill, Super G, Alpine Com- bined, Giant Slalom, and Slalom. She's bringing with her the technical precision of patrol she learned at Gore Mountain all the way to the dream she earned in every carved turn. "Winning is awesome," she explained, but she prefers learning above all else. "The most important results are the impact you leave behind on the hill," she explains. "Making sure I leave a positive mark on the people I in- teract with is more important than any medal." If Kelsey could describe her journey in one word oth- er than resilience, she would say "grit." There is a har- diness born at Gore Mountain that's tough enough to carry you further than you know, even to the Olympics. When she leaves the gate in Milan, she won't be alone — these mountains will be racing beside her, cheering her on through every moment. t

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