Ski event aids people with MS

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Feb 4, 2005 | by DEB ACORD THE GAZETTE

Skiers who participate in the Vertical Express funder Feb. 12 at resorts throughout the country will push themselves to the limit. Their goal: to see how many vertical feet they can ski in one day.

For those skiers, the Vertical Express will be a challenge that requires balance, endurance and strength.

Cindy Pummer won't be skiing that day, but she understands the challenge of pushing herself and testing her body's limits.

Pummer, 46, of Colorado Springs, has had multiple sclerosis for 22 years and is a beneficiary of past Vertical Express events.

Vertical Express is a major fund-raising event for the Jimmy Heuga Center, a nonprofit group dedicated to improving the lives of people with MS through education and wellness programs and research.

The center was founded by former Olympic ski racer Jimmie Heuga in 1984 to teach people with MS how to use exercise to manage their lives.

Heuga was diagnosed with MS in 1970, six years after he and friend Billy Kidd made history at the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Heuga and Kidd were the first American men to medal in the downhill competition, winning bronze and silver, respectively

In 1985, friends of the respected skier organized the first Snow Express for MS, a massive fund-raiser in Alyeska, Alaska. Ten skiers broke all records when they skied one million vertical feet in 24 hours. Since then, the Express has raised $11 million for the center that Heuga founded and Pummer says changed her life.

Pummer was living in Pennsylvania with her husband Bob and two children when she heard of the Heuga programs. "They seemed like something that would help me, but I never dreamed I would be able to participate," she says.

Seven years ago, the Pummers moved to Colorado Springs, and in 2002, Pummer enrolled in the Can Do program at the Heuga Center in Vail.

Can Do helps participants and their partners create a personal program based on their needs and what they can do, not what they can't.

Pummer says she found the program at the right time in her life.

"I had had to quit working and quit driving in 2000 because of cognitive programs," she says. "That was really hard and, for me, involved a grieving process."

Pummer says those symptoms of MS are the hardest for people to understand.

"If people see someone in a wheelchair or with braces on their legs, they get it. But cognitive problems that are common are harder for people to see and deal with."

Pummer lost the ability to multi-task, which impacted her driving.

"When you drive, you have to pay attention to what's in front of you and beside you, the road conditions, the weather, and other drivers," she says. "I just couldn't follow through on a task that complicated."

Pummer's job as a healthcare coordinator at an assistedliving home also became too much for her.

She enrolled in Can Do with a scholarship provided by the center. There, she worked in physical therapy and exercise programs.

The results, she says, "were amazing. I've improved dramatically."

So dramatically that this woman who wasn't strong enough to lift her arms and wash her hair found the strength to climb Pikes Peak.

"My neurologist said I couldn't do it. My physical therapist said I couldn't do it. But my husband and I did it together. It took us nine hours, and at the top, I was too exhausted to raise my arms in triumph. But I was thrilled," she says.

Pummer says she has thought about skiing, but for the moment, is concentrating on her love of hiking.

She exercises at home daily, and she dreams of standing on the summit of more of Colorado's fourteeners.

"Physically, I am better because of the Heuga program," she says.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0264 or dacord@gazette.com

DETAILS

What: Vertical Express for MS, an event that will attempt two world records: largest on-snow fund-raiser and most vertical feet skied in snow in one day.

When: Feb. 12, all day.

Where: Vertical feet record attempt at Vail; other events at Arapahoe Basin, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Durango, Keystone, Loveland, Sol Vista, Steamboat, Sunlight and Telluride.

How it works: All donations will be accepted in person on the day of the event or in advance through www.verticalexpress.org. Those who give $100 will receive a free lift ticket to the participating resort, a T-shirt, a year's subscription to Ski magazine, and a goody bag.

To participate: Register in advance at www.verticalexpress.org or on the event day at the ski resort.

Extras: Several resorts have planned on-mountain and aprs ski events in conjunction with the event.