Disabled Sports USA (DSUSA) has inducted Adaptive Sports Center instructor Kirsten Atkins into its Snow Sports Hall of Fame. DSUSA presented Atkins with the prestigious award at the 2016 Hartford Ski Spectacular December 3 in Breckenridge. Atkins has been an instructor with the Adaptive Sports Center since its founding in 1987 and has helped pioneer many of the advances in adaptive snow sports instruction over the past thirty years. “Working with people with disabilities chose me,” Atkins says. “I have an older brother with high functioning autism. I answered an advertisement in the paper during my first winter in Crested Butte for the Adaptive Sports Center, which used to be known as the Physically Challenged Ski Program. I thought it would be a great way to combine my love for skiing and my life experience with people with disabilities.” Atkins’ career began in Crested Butte, but has taken her around the world. She spent time working in Europe teaching British students with disabilities and training both instructors and volunteers. Her career with the Adaptive Sports Center also afforded her the opportunity to help spearhead a certification program for adaptive ski instructors in Argentina, Alaska and Idaho. “It’s an incredible honor to be inducted into the DSUSA Hall of Fame,” Atkins says. “I couldn’t have done it without the help of a huge community of fellow instructors and participants.” “Kirsten’s contributions to the adaptive sports industry through her work with the Adaptive Sports Center, the PSIA, and the Argentine ski instructors association have affected hundreds of adaptive instructors throughout the world, which in turn has helped change the lives of thousands of people with disabilities in a profound way,” says Adaptive Sports Center Executive Director Christopher Hensley. “As educators in this industry, it’s been an honor to build a strong foundation for adaptive snowsports instructors and participants,” Atkins says. “I believe it is up to all of us to support the next generations of adaptive instructors so that we may continue to positively impact the lives of people with disabilities for decades to come.”
