Erik and Steve: Snowbird Employees Support WAS

Steve and Erik are both Snowbird employees as well as dedicated WAS volunteers.  Read on to hear about their past experiences  with adaptive recreation (spoiler alert, they both got their start in the water!), how they got involved with WAS, and why they love working with our students!

Erik Jones

My name is Erik Jones and I am a volunteer with Wasatch Adaptive Sports (WAS). I moved out here from NYC last March to work in Food & Beverage at Snowbird. I finally got involved with this incredible program at the end of January and it has been the best decision since deciding to relocate to the Wasatch Mountains!

While in NYC I got to volunteer with the nonprofit organization Life Rolls On. They teach adaptive surfing all over the country and made a stop at Rockaway Beach a few summers ago. It was a great experience getting people out of their chairs and into the surf. I just remember all the smiles and how much fun everyone had that day hanging out at the beach catching waves. After that day I told myself I was going to volunteer with that program every time they hosted an event nearby. However, the hustle and bustle of NYC took its toll on me and I moved west to chase winter landing at Snowbird.

Working at a restaurant that doesn’t open until 3 pm every day during the winter gives me a ton of free time during the day. I knew I needed to utilize this time and what better way than to volunteer with WAS. It is similar to Life Rolls On except it is on SNOW! Plus WAS has lessons every week. With Wasatch Adaptive, I get to share my passion for the mountains with all of the amazing students. Every lesson has been an experience with totally different challenges and objectives. All the staff here truly care about the students’ goals and achieving them. Nothing is more exciting then getting to see a student’s progression week over week. I’m very lucky to have found such an amazing program with a team dedicated to their students.

Can’t wait to get involved with a bunch more of WAS programs this summer!

Steve Ross

Hello everyone! My name is Steve and I help out with Wasatch Adaptive Sports pretty much once a week as a volunteer. I also happen to work up at Snowbird full-time as well as being back at school, a busy boy but I love it! They asked me to write a few words for the blog to help spread the word and so here’s a little ramble from a wandering minstrel… 😉

I consider myself very lucky to have experienced what I have so far in life. My road has twisted and turned many a time and I now find myself living here in the beautiful state of Utah. I grew up across the pond in London and I’ve made more than a few pit stops along the way. At one of them I met a beautiful girl from Wyoming and that’s kinda how I ended up here in Salt Lake City. In a bizarre coincidence my best friend growing up actually used to be an instructor at the ‘Bird and I first stopped on through in 2010 thinking, “that was nice, wonder if I’ll ever be back”…

I first started working as a server here at Snowbird last winter a couple of months after moving to Salt Lake. I was aware of WAS at some point during the season, I think I must have seen them cruising down Chickadee :), and it was one of those things that I meant to get around to asking about but never quite did. I didn’t have any skis and I wasn’t sure if I could be of any help and I had a lot going on. This year though after stopping back in the UK for the first time in years and bringing back my skis I was definitely going to get involved, and I’m so glad I did! There are an awesome bunch of folks that are involved in this organization, a lot of joy and a lot of smiles. From administrators, instructors, volunteers and definitely students!

My wife and I were both involved in a similar operation in Hawaii (yes, I was lucky enough to live there for a while!), with a non-profit called AccesSurf which has a very similar outlook. Wanting to spread the stoke and get everybody that wants to get involved in surfing, or even just being in or around the water, for the first time or the hundredth, in a safe and fun fashion. No matter whether able-bodied or not: Wounded Warriors, kids with autism, blind folks, amputees, quadriplegics and their families… one and all were welcome. It is very similar here at WAS. Everybody and anybody is welcome to get involved, there is a wealth of experience with assisting hundreds, maybe thousands of people over the years, and safety and fun are two of the biggest priorities!

I have only been involved for this last winter and loved spreading the stoke about skiing, which I love, but am super pumped to be getting involved in the summer programs too. As I’ve been cycling back from work along Wasatch Boulevard these last few weeks, I’ve been watching with delight as life blooms across the valley. The eruption of spring blossoms and green leaves contrasting with the winter lag of the mountains; beautiful too in the Spring time glory. I’m loving riding in the slushy fun still and full of the memories of last year once the snow receded. The wild flowers spread across the mountain floor and happily knowing that it’s just round the corner. Days on the rivers in the sun, and camping, and fishing, and having a good ol’ time!

I am by nature a pretty positive person but I am constantly blown away by the joy and upbeatness of many of our students. Helping others is such a help to myself. There’s always a chance of something amazing just around the corner…