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Mosher heading to IPC para-snowboard opener

Indoor event in Netherlands first event since snowboarding was confirmed for Paralympics
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Need for Speed Tyler Mosher races in a Para-Snowboard World Cup in Nakiska last April. photo submitted

Just six months ago, Whistler's Tyler Mosher was convinced that para-snowboarding would not be on the schedule for the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi. In fact, the sport had just been turned down for inclusion the previous August.

That all changed for Mosher on May 2.

"The announcement was on May 2 that snowboarding would go to the Paralympic Games and it was a bit of a surprise," he said.

"I started training almost immediately. I've been training at the (Canadian Sports Centre Pacific) high performance gym, I'm running a landscaping company, I've been riding bikes as much as I can with my dogs, and doing Siberian Sandbox gym classes. I've been exercising and building strength at The Core, I do a lot of ball work, and I've done thousands and thousands and thousands of squats. No joke. Thousands of squats and thousands of lunges."

The first test of all that exercise is a competition in the Netherlands on Nov. 22-23 at the indoor Funpark facility.

Because of the venue he knows the course will be short and not as technical as some of the events he's struggled with in the past.

"My goal is to get classified (by the IPC) and win gold," said Mosher simply. "My strength is that I'm a fast glider, and a good starter and I can really go fast if I can keep my board flat. Once a course gets more technical it's harder for me. I'm good at picking fast lines, but the way courses are becoming more technical has really exposed my weaknesses.

"For example, the world championship course was too hard for me. The first day I did fine, but on the second day the course was a little faster and I kept missing the transition on the last jump because I was going faster than other riders and couldn't recover. It's a problem when I'm in the air because I don't have any shock absorption while I'm landing."

Mosher said all those years of hard work is paying off in the gym as he works to reach his next goal of competing for Canada — and winning — at the 2014 Paralympic Games.

A lot will ultimately depend on what format and classification system is used at the Sochi Games, as well as the design of the course, but on a fast course with no major jumps and with the same classification he's been racing in at World Snowboard Federation events, he feels it's within reach.

"My real advantage is that I have four 100-day seasons on the mountain, and before my injury I was a pretty good snowboarder," he said. "I know what it's like to go fast and pick a fast line, it wasn't new to me — I know what it's supposed to feel like, even if I can't always feel my legs, if that makes any sense."

Para-snowboarders currently compete in an event called slingshot, which is basically a one-person time trial down a snowboardcross course, although he doesn't know what format the events will be at Sochi.

He hopes to find out by the end of the year before the Paralympic test event at Sochi in March and the final World Cup in Slovenia — as well as to determine what classification is used.

If the IPC uses the same classification as the World Snowboard Federation, he'll get a two-second advantage over 100 seconds competing against single below-the-knee amputees, while above the knee amputees will have a two second advantage over him. It's a classification system that's been working well for Mosher, and he hopes it will continue through 2014.

Mosher suffered a spinal cord injury after dropping onto rocks while snowboarding in December 2000, leaving him partially paralyzed below the waist.

He was told by doctors that he might need a wheelchair, but with the latest science and some hard work on his part he was able to regain partial use of his lower legs. The backs of his legs, including his calf muscles, the upper part of his hamstrings and some of his glutes have little or no feeling since his accident, and he walks on his heels to maintain his balance. Doctors tell him he's between 30 and 40 per cent paralyzed.

Not long after he went through the rehabilitation process, working alongside other athletes with spinal cord injuries, an inspired Mosher set an ambitious goal for himself — to compete for Canada in the sport of cross-country skiing in the Paralympics.

He had never been a cross-country skier before but classic skiing was something he could do with his unique disability, and he trained hard for eight years to qualify to race for Canada at home in 2010.

He finished 21st in the sprint, 23rd in the classic race and seventh in the team relay at the Paralympics at Whistler Olympic Park, racing in the standing category.

"It's funny, but the day after I got the call about snowboarding at Sochi, I got a call from my cross-country coach to tell me that they changed the classifications. Before, I was competing at 93 per cent and they've reclassified the LW3 category that I'm in at 89 per cent. That would have put me in the mix in 2010 and I would have been in the top 10. That's an additional almost five per cent advantage over what I had in 2010 — drugs don't even give you that kind of advantage."

During the time he was working to qualify for the 2010 Games he also started to snowboard again, first to prove he could do it and secondly to promote snowboarding as a viable option for people with disabilities. Mosher also became a leading advocate for para-snowboarding competitions as well, and for competition at the highest level. He travelled the world in search of para-snowboarding events and athletes, and lobbied hard to expand to Canada.

He won the first ever sanctioned World Cup event for para-snowboarding in 2008, and has been among the top athletes in the sport ever since.

He knows he'll have his work cut out for him with other countries pouring resources into the sport, and a growing number of adaptive snowboarders competing in the U.S. However, he's invested almost $5,000 in gear and race wax, he's worked with a developer at Burton Snowboards to compensate for his unique injury, and Kessler to make new race boards, and, most importantly, he's got a head start in competing.

In terms of resources he's mostly self-funded at this point (with another $5,000 already spent on this season's travel plans) although Canada Snowboard has hired Candice Drouin as the para-snowboard coach for this season. The inclusion into the 2014 Games was announced too late for this funding cycle, but Mosher hopes there will be more resources available next season.

In the meantime he's taken part in camps at Mt. Hood where he got to room with Olympic champion Jasey-Jay Anderson and for the veteran's advice on gear and technique. He's also taken part in a few summer camps on the glacier at Whistler.

His equipment setup will be new for the Netherlands, but he's confident in the advice he's received and his gear, and won't be holding anything back.

"I'm just excited to race and to have this opportunity to represent Canada in another Paralympic sport," he said. "I'm been looking forward to this all summer."