Challenge Aspen, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Department of Veterans Affairs have partnered, making Aspen the home base for the USOC Veterans' Paralympic Performance Program (VP3) Alpine Skiing program. This affords veterans a full-time residency program in Aspen and one of the top coaching programs available in the world, under Kevin Jardine, Challenge Aspen Competition Program Director, 2006 USSA International Disabled Coach of the Year and former Head Coach of the U.S. Disabled Alpine Team.

The mission of this competition development program is to provide disabled veterans the opportunity and skill to compete regionally, nationally and internationally. The program provides training and coaching for athletes with visual impairments and physical impairments in accordance with the rules set forth by the International Paralympic Committee. To be eligible for the program, veterans must be able to:

• Ski independently
• Load and unload from the lift independently
• Pick himself/herself up independently after a fall
• Have a desire to take personal skiing to the next level and be willing to commit the required time and energy into the training

We also recommend that program members have their own equipment.

Our goal is to train individuals for competition at an elite level; therefore, age and physical conditioning will be taken into consideration for acceptance into this specialized training.*

For more information, contact Kevin Jardine at 970-923-0578, ext 222, or at kevin@challengeaspen.com.

*Challenge Aspen also offers many learn-to-ski and snowboard programs for individuals who do not meet the above criteria but are interested in competing in the future.