Winter Paralympic Games 2026 Italy

Hi, I’m Mackinzie Dickman, a Paralympic hopeful in sit skiing from Snowshoe Mountain Resort, in WV. I grew up skiing at Snowshoe Mountain my whole life and after my car accident it made it that much easier to make the move to Snowshoe. I had the opportunity to learn how to sit ski through Challenged Athletes of West Virginia (CAWV) in the winter of 2020 and after that, I never looked back.

In September of 2017 I was involved in a single vehicle accident in the suburbs of Cincinnati, OH, where my work vehicle ended up wrapping around a telephone pole. It was a serious extrication that took 3 hours to complete, then an air care trip where I was not admitted to the hospital but sent to observation. I was discharged not even 24 hours after arriving…

Fast forward to May 2019. I couldn’t take the pins and needles feeling anymore that I thought was going to go away. I went to the orthopedic, as I was a gymnast for 15 years and knew my body had been through the ringer, so we ordered an MRI. Well, findings showed a syrinx (cerebral spinal fluid filled cyst) from T5-12 in my spinal cord. As months continued, my gait worsened. I became a full time wheelchair user by October 2019. Life was medically scary for a while, getting medication amounts in the correct doses to make my new body function to the best of its ability, but by December 2020 I was healthy enough to try sit skiing. The start of my new life.

By March 2021, after lots of falls and learning, I asked the Snowshoe Ski Team Coach if I could try their ski gates. I wasn’t great but I had a starting point. I made it a goal to race in Snowshoe’s Cupp Run Challenge, an open race for anyone to sign up for, but it is a 1.5 mile run that is a black diamond. On Feb 6, 2022, I was the first adaptive athlete to run and complete the course, my first race, done! CAWV’s director, Carol, then told me about an event called Ski Spectacular in Breckenridge, CO and that I could apply for a scholarship to go as a race participant and learn how to race. Well, I applied and got awarded the scholarship and the first week of December 2022 I am at race camp in awe. I was told by many coaches that I have the skills to be a racer. I was even given Alana Nichols’ speed suit,who is a 3 sport, 3 time gold medalist in the Paralympics.

Feb 2023 rolls around and Snowshoe’s Cupp Run Challenge happens again and this time I have some idea of how to approach gates and won the adaptive category. Snowshoe even had a follow camera on me and posted the video to their Facebook page. That video then went around and a fellow sit ski racer who saw it. Rob Engil, a paralympian, reached out and asked for my information because he told me that I need to get into racing. It wasn’t 24 hours later I had a call from Erik Petersen, Head Coach of the National Sports Center for the Disabled, (NSCD) out of Winter Park Resort in CO to talk with me about racing.

In April 2023, my husband, Ted, and I went out to Winter Park and met with Erik and his team. I was given the opportunity to test a new sit ski frame with a more aggressive seating position for racing, practice with team members that were still around, and discuss my future when it comes to training with the NSCD, future races, and how to qualify for the Paralympic Games. The Paralympic Games are on the same cycle as the Olympics, every 4 years. The next set of Winter Games is being held in Milan/Cortina, Italy in 2026. I hope to have your support!