Giving the disabled the ability to ski

PLANTSVILLE, Conn. (WTNH) -- A special program gave those who would otherwise not be able to ski the chance to hit the slopes today.

Joe Short likes gravity. Gravity spurs excitement and excitement creates happiness. In fact, the faster he flies down a snow-covered hill, the better.

"Oh yeah, I love speed. Anytime there is adrenlain, it's always welcome," said Short.

"Leap of Faith" is a non-profit group focused on getting those with disabilities up on skis to go down a mountain. One doesn't need two good legs to have fun to "shred." One will do just fine thank you very much, as adaptive skiing instructor Scott Hadley will tell you.

"That's the whole point to doing this, you know what I mean. You are actually, um, showing people something they never thought they could do. You know, t's a great thing," said Hadley.

There are teams of volunteers out here, some from all over New England, some calling in sick. The joy too is all the equipment is free of charge.

"These people are getting the exact-same freedom," said News 8's Jamie Muro.

"Exactly, and they don't get a chance to do that, getting them out of the house is so key here and, uh, they have an accomplishment. If I can do this, hey, I can do anything. We have some veterans here today, and they all feel great, just like you or I after we are done skiing," said Joel Zeisler, "Leap of Faith."

On the face of Mountain Southington, try to observe the faces. The smiles are as constant as the chair lift takes them up for another run. For a short time, a chair propelled by wheels is replaced by a chair flying on skis. Gravity is a gift, even if it always doesn't work in your favor.

"I already got dumped over in the snow, I gotta get a reminder on how to feel so they dumped me over in the snow and I said, 'okay, this is a good reminder of what it feels like to ski,'" said Short.