RANGELEY — As families from around the state gathered Feb. 27 at Saddleback Ski Area for Camp No Limits, instructors prepared to help their students into skis and onto other adaptive equipment.

Camp No Limits gives children who have lost limbs and have other disabilities the opportunity to learn to ski and snowboard under the one-on-one mentorship of adults with similar conditions.

David Harrell, community outreach coordinator at Camp No Limits, began volunteering for the organization 12 years ago after realizing that a younger version of himself would have wanted to be in a similar group. Harrell is missing his right hand; he was born with what’s called congenital limb difference.

“So, it was the sense of seeing these kids who were going through a very similar experience, and kind of a feeling of just wanting to give back,” he said.

At the lodge, around 10 families from in and out of the state gathered to learn with one another in an environment tailored to teach each individual based on their needs. Some skied solo, others were tethered to an adult and some were in adaptive monoskis.

Kelsey Moody, operations director of Camp No Limits, said the weekend aims to teach children who often face fewer athletic options that there is a place for them in the world of sports.

“I want everybody to be able to experience any type of recreation, whether it’s indoors or outdoors,” Moody said. “Especially living here in the state of Maine. They have to be able to love our backyard, which is here at Saddleback or out on the trails, mountain biking, golfing, whatever.”

Camp No Limits hosts camps throughout the year across Maine, each giving kids the opportunity to spend time outdoors in a community that understands their needs. For this event, they partnered with Maine Adaptive, a group dedicated to educating and training people with disabilities through adaptive sports.

For many of the kids, it was their first time skiing. Others had a bit more practice.

Michael Carden, 12, who is missing his left foot, started snowboarding a year ago. With mentorship, he has made steady progress. He started with tethers, where a more experienced instructor physically holds the student with ropes. Now he snowboards freely. 

Asked what he was proudest of overcoming, Carden said, “Definitely not falling on my butt.”

Harrell hopes that camps like No Limits can help show kids who might feel alone in their disability that there is space for them in whatever sport they might pursue.

“You just see someone in a similar experience,” Harrell said, “and it helps to begin that process of, OK, I’m not by myself.”