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Whistler's Josh Dueck featured on Ellen

Another challenge conquered
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By Vince Shuley

Josh Dueck's sit-ski backflip video with Mike Douglas has gone viral, securing "Dewey" a spot on the Ellen DeGeneres show on Wednesday, Feb. 15.

The 31-year-old Paralympic racer recently featured his backcountry and powder skills in a well-received short film called The Freedom Chair by Switchback Entertainment and Salomon Freeski TV. While working on the movie, Dueck confided to Douglas that one of his dreams since the injury was to land a backflip on a sit-ski - the same move he was doing at Silver Star when he overshot the landing and sustained his life-changing spinal injury at the age of 23. Douglas, inspired by Dueck's abilities, took it on himself to make the dream a reality.

Dueck started to practice in the foam pit at Woodwards and then moved onto an air bag on Whistler Mountain to prepare. Powder Mountain Catskiing helped out by building him a backcountry booter in the backcountry, and Dueck made the jump successfully on Feb. 3. The video has been viewed more than half a million times on YouTube.