Adaptive Ski Pioneer Makes Snow-Covered Slopes a Level Playing Field

Voice of America
By: Nancy Greenleese
January 30, 2008

Hal O'Leary loves to ski. The 70-year-old founder of the National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park, Colorado admits that he's spent many years with one eye on the clock at work and one on the snow-covered hill outside. But it's his heart that's made him more than just another 'ski bum.' For nearly four decades, he's taught people with disabilities how to ski, and in the process, how to conquer the many other mountains that they face. The spry pioneer's influence reaches well beyond the Rockies. He travels to Connecticut and Japan this winter to teach the next generation of adaptive ski instructors. Nancy Greenleese profiles the man who has carved out new opportunities for the disabled.

In addition to a profile on Mr. O'Leary, Carol Page, who coordinates the sports program for children with disabilities at The Children's Hospital, said, "Hal is just a free spirit and the kids loved it. He was like the pied piper to the children."

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