SULA — The Bitterroot Winter Special Olympics offers skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, and a bunch of on the mountain fun — including a medal ceremony.
Athletes and coaches range in hometowns from Salmon, Idaho to Charlo and Ronan.
The two-day event helps participants pursue a passion for snow sports.
For Special Olympics athlete Derek Eldridge, the games offer the ability to enjoy himself.
“Just being free to do what I want to do,” he shared when asked why he competed for the past 15 years.
Eldridge, who has been skiing for 40 years, does not measure success in his events by winning but by having a good time.
“It doesn't matter just having fun," he said.
MTN spoke with many volunteers who share the same sentiment about the games as Eldridge.
“It's about the people and the atmosphere and it's just such a positive thing to do," volunteer Sean Selter shared. "Everybody high fives and hugs and it's awesome.”
“There is a feeling that we get: pure joy, excitement. Most of our athletes say that this is better than Christmas,” Event Coordinator Carolyn Kenngott described.
The feeling of the Special Olympics is why participants never stray too far from competing.
“I just talked to an athlete who hadn't come for 10 years. He's an adult and he said I'm back this year and I'm going to keep coming back," Kenngott detailed.
The pure joy and connection are also the reasons why volunteers come back year after year.
Kenngott stated, “This is my 41st year so I've never missed a year.”
From chatting with Kenngott, MTN learned that there’s a trend with volunteering. Little kids who tag along with their volunteering parents end up returning and continue to volunteer themselves.
That is the exact story for Seltzer. “My mom, Cathy, she's been coming since pretty much the beginning and I was a little kid and I came up and been helping her out ever since,” he explained
Now, he’s coaching athletes and spreading the joy. Seltzer detailed, “My ski partner, Chris, I taught him to ski over 30 years ago and he talks about this all year and looks forward to it all year.”
The Bitterroot Special Olympics are happening at Lost Trail until end of day on March 6, 2024. If you want to volunteer, there are spots for doing so next year.
