In February 2010 I travelled with Jean, Dave and Derek (succeeded by Sheila after a week) to Vail, Colorado to try their disabled skiing which I can now say is not only possible and available but great!

Vail itself was a nice place, it felt more like an Alpine village than an American tourist destination. Hardly anyone seemed to use their cars and most of the buildings were low-rise. Within the town all buses are free and disabled accessible but unfortunately there are no disabled public toilets in the centre. However, they do have accessible facilities at the foot of each of the town’s three ski lifts.

We mainly went for the skiing but unfortunately I had only one day on the slopes before contracting pneumonia, so spent the next three weeks as a guest of the Vail Valley Medical Centre!!

Thankfully, I am now almost back to what I consider normal!

Remember to check that the oxygen will be okay for you, especially if you have a disability which could affect your lungs’ function because I think Vail is up at 8,000ft and if you go skiing it can be 13,000ft.