Looking To Talk to Amputees About Their Sport Culture

Hello everyone,

My name is Greg Mionske and I am a journalism student at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I am looking to talk to a number of amputees or people with other physical handicaps who have either started a new or continued an outdoor passion of the past. I'm looking for any type of athlete. I want to talk about amputee athletics as a micro-culture. If anyone has any contacts or would like to talk to me please post here on Mountain Project or shoot me an email at photos@gregmionske.com or give me a call at 302-293-1730.

Thanks,
Greg Mionske

www.GregMionske.com

Greg,
We need to talk. Check out the photos at paradoxsports.org before you contact me. We go ice climbing, rockclimbing, fly fishing, surfing, skiing, hiking, rafting and adventuring. There are amputees around here who are leading 5.12.
Mal

Hi.
My name s Jerod Minich. I am a bilateral below the knee climber. I've been rock climbing for over 15 years and ice climbing for 7 plus years.

Hey Greg,
I probably don't have anything to say that Mal couldn't say better, or with more experience, but I'd be happy to talk to you. I have been climbing for six years, and have had a fibular deficiency in both legs and no right foot since birth.
Cliff

Hi Greg - been climbing longer than dirt but only a below the knee amp since '97. I don't know I'm part of any general amp micro culture though - except that I sometimes go to Mal's parties. I just do the same old sports w/ my non-amp friends. Mail me if you want to talk.
steve

Perhaps my good friend Jeff Denholm is someone that you should contact. He is a Patagonia surfing ambassador and world class surfer/ human being! He's not very hard to find and I can hook you up if you like. Tell him Olaf from Maui said, "Hi! "

Jeff grew up in a fishing port on the Southern Coast of Maine where his passion for everything ocean was spawned. The toughness that is bred into the people of this region helped him to survive a life changing injury that occurred aboard an Alaskan fishing trawler where Jeff suffered the loss of his dominant arm. Undeterred he continued to pursue his athletic passions with a greater focus and commitment. He designs, and continues to refine, his own high-tech sports prosthetics – a mountain bike arm, surfing arm, paddleboard arm and a skiing arm – that enable him to continue to participate in the sports he loves.

Jeff truly feels that it is now his calling in life to be a positive example of overcoming life's adversities by pushing his athletic envelope and tackling his chosen sports with the same passion he pursued them with prior to his accident.

It might be worth calling Adaptive Sports programs around Colorado. I used to work for the Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte. There is a large contingent of adaptive sports people there.

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I will be emailing or calling everyone throughout the next week or so.

Greg

Not an amputee, but my father has Multiple Sclerosis and still climbs hard. He was almost killed by it in '96-'97, but recovered, and has actually lead a sponsored trip to Denali with other climbers with MS and has been sponsored to climb numerous Mexican and South American volcanoes and peaks. As well, a friend of mine used to be heavily involved with the Breckenridge adaptive sports program teaching people with handicaps to ski, he could probably give you the numbers of some people. PM me is you would like to talk to either of them and I can see if they're willing.