Marine returns
to athletic life
Ski camp helps disabled
Iraq veteran find hope
By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
A U.S. Marine who was the first to be
wounded in the invasion of Iraq is finding new hope in Sun Valley for an active
life.
Among the six athletes invited to
participate in this year’s Sun Valley Adaptive Sports ski camp is Staff Sgt.
Eric Avla, of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines.
The first U.S. serviceman wounded in the
Iraq War, Avla lost his right leg above the knee, and has spent months in
hospitals.
Leading the group out on the trails is
Paralympic Silver Medallist and National Champion Nordic sit-skier Bob Balk,
one of the coaches for the Sun Valley Adaptive Sports camp. Express photo by
Willy Cook
Sun Valley Adaptive Sports holds a
cross-country recruitment camp each year. They invite athletes with disabilities
who excel in other sports to Sun Valley to teach them the art of cross-country
skiing. For many it’s a way to find a way back into active life again after a
tragic accident.
The camp involves daily clinics, time in
the gym to learn sport-specific, dry land training techniques, and some time for
socializing over the course of nearly a week. The athletes ski on the North
Valley Trails, at Galena and on Bald Mountain.
Now living in his hometown of San Antonio,
Texas, Avla met Marc Mast, director of Sun Valley Adaptive Sports, during the
Hartford Ski Spectacular, sponsored in part by Disabled Sports/USA, in
Breckenridge, Colo, last December. Mast got Avla up on the slopes with outrigger
skis and gave him a few days of instruction. At first, Avla worried about his
balance.
"It starts to come back to you, it gets
easier and easier. I couldn’t believe it that nine months after my injury … if
someone had said while I was in the hospital ‘You’ll be skiing by the end of the
year,’ I would have said ‘Get out you’re sick. Not a nice joke.’"
Two recruited athletes, Brent Combs,
left, and Brandon Dalein, right head off on their sit-sledges on the North
Valley Trails Saturday. Express photo by Willy Cook
And yet, Avla, 33, not merely skied, he
excelled. Avla is a former marathoner who ran the Marine Corps marathon four
years in a row. His best time was three hours, 10 minutes. That impressed Mast
enough to make sure he came to the camp in Sun Valley. Avla has also been
swimming three times a week since early December.
"I love the kind of cardio-work you get in
a marathon," Avla said. "For sit down skiers you work your upper body. It’s a
work out."
Avla admits that after the frustration and
depression, the biggest challenge for him was to figure out how to be an athlete
still.
Suzanne Elbon picks up some tips on
Nordic skiing without poles form coach Willie Stewart. Express photo by Willy
Cook
Avla, a 13-year veteran currently in the
process of being medically retired, had intended to make the Marine Corps his
career. At only 5 feet, 1 inch, he had had to work just to get through Boot
Camp. He was a mere 90 pounds when he joined up.
Avla now gives speeches at schools,
businesses and conventions and visits soldiers in hospitals who have lost limbs.
"I know what you’re going through," he
said he tells them. "After the agony, misery and tears, it’s all about a four
letter word—time. It does heal all wounds. When people give you opportunities
don’t hold back. You don’t know what you’ve got till you try."
Eric Avla attaches his
cross-country skis to a sit-sledge Saturday during the camp. Express photo by
Willy Cook
As far as the success of the camp, Mast
was positive. His first goal is to create a pool of athletes to compete on a
national team. The second goal is to create ambassadors for disabled skiers.
U.S. Disabled Ski Team coaches help train
as do members of the team.
The coaching team also included Jon
Kreamelmeyer, head coach of the USDST; Joan Scheingraber, former assistant USDST
coach and elite able-bodied racer; Muffy Ritz, former able-bodied racer and
winner of the American Birkbeiner; and Mast. Current National Sit-Ski Champion
Bob Balk coached as well.
"He was very helpful and an excellent role
model," Avla said.
Even after other skiers had departed Sun
Valley, Avla stayed on to keep skiing.
"It’s about living again. People around me
show me that I can still go on."