Day one: 2:30am alarms are never that much fun, but if it means you get the chance of a lifetime to travel to Mississippi to go water skiing on a private, man made lake, you can grin and bear the fatigue. The perfect cocktail of sleep deprivation and adrenaline set the tone for an interesting day of travel from Lake Tahoe to Mississippi (with a pit-stop in Houston, TX). The High Fives Non-Profit Foundation is proud to announce the kick off of it’s first ever trip to Unlimited Skiing (Brandon, MS) for adaptive water skiing training from September 6-11.
Forgotten items such as shoes and hooded sweatshirts aside, High Fives Winter Empowerment Fund – Highlighted Athletes Landon McGauley, Phil Hoban and Steve Wallace along with Roy Tuscany, Adam Baillargeon, Trevor Clark (photographer) and Nik David (videographer) made their way across the country to the Deep South. Buffalo Wild Wings provided fuel for empty stomachs in Houston and Kendamas (an extremely addictive, wooden skill toy) allowed for hand-eye coordination levels to increase while passing the time once we arrived in gorgeous Jackson, MS.
The crew from Tahoe joined up with Mark Urich and Alana Nichols (two extraordinarily talented adpative athletes from Colorado) at Unlimited Skiing, which is run by Bill and Denise Bowness (who operate the business in the summer and work in Tahoe during winter). In a comfortable lakeside house, the Bowness’ hosted an amazing meal of steak and potatoes which preceded a night of bonding with eight of the crew sleeping in a rented mobile-home trailer just steps away from the calm water’s edge.
Day two began with Evol burritos and Red Bull and the discovery of the trailer’s heating system…Mississippi can get cold at night in September! Shortly thereafter the athletes began working on their body mechanics on the water with the intention of transferring the motion and muscle memory to the slopes this winter.
To see current and former professional athletes who have suffered a life altering injury get up on a water sit-ski in their first or second attempt is remarkable. The Malibu Response LXI (boat), coupled with the driving and teaching prowess of the Bowness’ made the transition from snow to water seamless. The smiles are on full sail, the fun has begun and the possibilities are endless for this fortunate group to live life to its fullest while learning from the best in the business at the beautiful locale of Brandon, Mississippi!
-High Five from team Mississippi.