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Having fun can be hard work when that fun means helping the physically challenged enjoy some freedom and independence. That is what the Eagle Mount of Bozeman Adaptive Ski Program is all about.

Teaching the teacher is focus of the training for Eagle Ski volunteers. These are the people who help physically challenged individuals capture the fun of a day on the ski hill.

Diana Proemm is the program director.

"Some people do it because they have a family member who has a disability and some people do it just to help the community," she said.

Kelly Seymour's son Derek is an Eagle Ski participant of four years.

"And the number of people that come out to volunteer, I've never seen anything like that before," Seymour said.
Through a number of different exercises, the volunteers learn how to teach and work with participants, the theory being that if you make learning a game, it takes less time to pick up the lesson.

"We've been up for four years and he's (Derek) had some incredible volunteers," according to Seymour.
Proemm says the volunteers are "the life and blood of this program."

The training includes working with the various types of adaptive equipment for skiers of all abilities.

They cover everything from preparation to how to load a participant in the gear. Kelly Seymour says the program has produced amazing results for her son Derek."...taking him from not knowing how to ski at all to absolutely standing on his own and going down the hill on his own."

At the end of the day it's all about the smiles that the program brings to the participants and the volunteers.

"It's having fun with them," says Proemm. "It's getting to be a kid yourself and forgetting everything that you have going on in your life."

And for those who face the daily challenge of living with a disability, a simple day of fun skiing, made possible by a dedicated corps of volunteers, means more than words can say.