South African skier aims for Winter Paralympics

“All the travelling has been great too and I'm really excited for the next season. Hopefully I'll get the chance to represent my country at Sochi.”

Kingsley Ward is still a skiing novice, especially when stacked against his competition.

And he’ll still be a novice amongst more experienced veterans at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, most likely as the only South African skier to participate in the event.

Ward, an ex-paratrooper, took up the sport in 2010, just months after he stepped on an improvised explosive devise while on military duty in Afghanistan. He lost both of his legs and an arm in the incident.

In that instant, carrying out everyday tasks that most take for granted became much more challenging. It would take many hours of intense rehab learning how to walk, run and cycle on prosthetics before returning to an active lifestyle. Then, one afternoon on a mountainside in Colorado, Ward put on a mono ski and started to maneuver down the slopes. In doing so, he discovered a newfound freedom.

He also found that he had a knack for the sport.

“Once I found my balance (and stopped falling over so much!) I really enjoyed it,” Ward said. “It's great being able to get some speed and have the freedom to get anywhere you want on a mountain.”

Ward had never been skiing before that day three years ago. Nor does he think it was a big deal to pick up the sport so quickly. To him, the enjoyment was feeling the flow of the wind and the challenge of the hill, something that isn’t as easy when your limbs aren’t firmly attached to your body.

“One of the main challenges I've found has been finding an arm prosthesis that's robust and secure enough not to cause a problem halfway down a run,” Ward said.

That’s exactly what happened at Ward’s first IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in February, as his prosthetic arm disconnected midway through the opening run, forcing him to withdraw. While frustrating, just qualifying for La Molina capped off a successful first competitive season for the 27-year-old, who still has his best days ahead.

Ward’s season took him to Holland, then to Copper Mountain and Rinn, Austria, where he finished fifth at the Roll:Rinn, securing the points needed to compete in the World Championship.

He’s moving up through the ranks, while learning his craft on the fly. He also isn’t immune to the difficulties of his new passion, driving a car around Europe to attend races and training camps.

“It's been quite a whirlwind experience so far, with learning about all the different aspects of the sport, improving my actual skiing ability and trying to be a professional ski racer,” Ward said.

“All the travelling has been great too and I'm really excited for the next season. Hopefully I'll get the chance to represent my country at Sochi.”

As for Sochi, Ward admits to not knowing about the Paralympic movement before the incident in Afghanistan. Now he hopes to follow the track marks of South African Bruce Warner, who competed in Nagano, Salt Lake, Torino and Vancouver, also on the slopes.

“It's brilliant that the Paralympics is going from strength to strength, gaining popularity since Beijing and London,” Ward said. “Hopefully the Winter Paralympics and Sochi will follow in the same fashion. It'll be a great way to showcase some winter sports that are available for people with whatever disabilities to participate in.”

Ward has already qualified for the slalom in Sochi, but hopes to add the giant slalom, super-G and super combined to his itinerary while trying to improve his point totals. Not too shabby for a man who had never put on a ski as the last Paralympics were taking place.

“[Skiing] has reinforced that I’m still the same person after losing a few limbs,” Ward said. “I still enjoy doing interesting and different things, having a goal and something to train for and focus on.”

“And I still enjoy a challenge.”