3/31/2025 –
Van Wort grew up skiing, spending years carving turns in the Alps, and didn’t step away from skiing and snowboarding by choice. In his late 20s, he unexpectedly lost his vision due to a surgical mishap following a neck injury. While he was lucky to maintain full mobility, the procedure left him with no central vision and only a cloudy peripheral field.
At first, the idea of returning to snow sports didn’t seem realistic. But when his boys were little, he made a decision—he wasn’t going to be the dad watching from the lodge. He was going to be out there with them, figuring it out together. So he switched to snowboarding and found a new way to experience the mountain.
Then, as life often does, things got busy. Raising kids, running a business, shifting priorities—it all meant that one day, he looked around and realized it had been well over a decade since he’d last ridden.
For Van, stepping onto a snowboard for the first time in 15 years wasn’t about proving anything—it was about seeing what was possible. Would his body still know what to do? Would snowboarding feel the same after so much time away? He wasn’t sure.
What he did know? He missed being out there on the mountain.
So when he had the chance to return with Vermont Adaptive at the 16th Annual VI/Blind Athletes Winter Festival at Pico Mountain in February, he wasn’t sure what to expect. Would he be able to navigate the slopes with his limited vision? Would it even feel like it used to?
There was only one way to find out.
With the Vermont Adaptive team and his guides, Aharoni and Marilyn, Van quickly found a rhythm. They made sure he had what he needed—guidance when he wanted it, space when he didn’t, and a solid crew to ride with.
“Aharoni seemed to have very good intuition, balancing the lesson with trust of letting me sort it out that I could do my own thing,” Van said. “But it was the confidence of having him behind me knowing that if I was doing something crazy or wrong or heading into the wrong direction, he would’ve said something immediately. That trust is key.
Van said his muscle memory kicked in. His body adjusted. His confidence grew. And before the weekend was over he was riding independently.
“The feeling I had more than anything else was just a smile glued onto my face,” he said. “It was exhilarating. It was a sense of life.”
For Van, getting back on a board wasn’t just about rekindling an old hobby. It was about remembering what he was capable of.
“I left that weekend thinking, ‘I can do this again,’” he said. “Your organization is extraordinary. You showed me what I could do and in just one weekend. Literally your instructors inspired me to want to snowboard again for as long as I can. To support the progress, the organization, what you guys do is just incredible, from walking in and seeing the bench with your name on it to the equipment being right there and ready for you, to the level of detail that you supported every person; you go the extra step.”
It also reminded him how much his mindset had shifted since his kids were younger. Back then, he didn’t want to just watch from the sidelines. He wanted to be out there, riding alongside them, showing them that falling down is just part of the process.
Now, with his kids grown and life in a new chapter, Vermont Adaptive gave him the space to step back into that version of himself. Snowboarding wasn’t just something he used to do—it was something he still could do.
And while he could find a program closer to home, Vermont Adaptive offered something that clicked. The people, the setup, the way everything just worked—it made it easy to enjoy the experience,” he said.
“If I have to wait a whole year, I’ll wait a whole year. But I’ll be back.”
