NEWRY – Maine Handicapped Skiing, celebrating its 24th season in 2006, still has openings available for adults and children with physical disabilities to participate in the winter adaptive recreational program starting Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Maine Handicapped Skiing offers lessons free at four locations: Sunday River Ski Resort, downhill skiing and snowboarding Sunday through Friday; Sugarloaf/USA, downhill skiing and snowboarding, weekends only; Sunday River Inn and Cross Country Ski Center, cross country skiing and snowshoeing Wednesdays through Fridays; and Pineland Farms, New Gloucester, cross country skiing and snowshoeing for scheduled days throughout the winter season.

Maine Handicapped Skiing serves people who have many types of physical disabilities, including traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, blind and visually impaired, deaf and hearing impaired, stroke, spinal cord injury, spina bifida and people who have lost limbs through accident or disease.

Potential and returning participants are required to fill out an application and get a physician’s statement permitting them to take part in the program.

Staff members and volunteers evaluate each participant individually, determining their interests, physical strengths and what they want to accomplish.

Once evaluated, participants are assigned to one or more volunteers who work with them on the slopes to learn downhill skiing or snowboarding or on the trails for cross country skiing or snowshoeing.

Every year volunteers teach more than 240 participants with physical disabilities, ages 6 and up, to downhill and cross country ski, snowboard and snowshoe. Every November and December hundreds of new and returning volunteers, participate in extensive training in adaptive skiing and riding techniques, adaptive equipment usage and workshops on the types of physical disabilities served.

For more information on becoming a participant at Maine Handicapped Skiing, call 1-800-639-7770, e-mail [email protected] or go to the Web at www.skimhs.org.