Looking for an fun and inspiring spring-skiing event in Utah? You’ll find it at the inaugural Brian McKenna TetraSki Express at Powder Mountain on March 25, 2022. This is a full day race and celebration that features national and international adaptive ski racers utilizing the innovative Tessier Snow’Kart and the renowned TetraSki, the world’s only independent alpine ski for complex disabilities, developed right here at the University of Utah.
The TetraSki Express event is named in honor of Brian McKenna, a good friend who was paralyzed in a mountain bike accident, but went on to be a pioneer for the TetraSki.
There will be two races that start at 8,600 feet at Powder Mountain – a TetraSki giant slalom, and a Snow’kart giant slalom. Racers will place based on a two-run combined time. Attendees will get to watch these amazing disabled skiers have fun and compete on the course, as well as attend medal presentations. There will also be gourmet food, drinks, a party tent with live music, scavenger hunt challenge, TetraSki and Snow’kart fun runs, swag, merchandise and more.
All proceeds from the event will help fund the international development and distribution of equipment and programs that enable the highest level of performance independence for people with complex disabilities.
About Brian McKenna
Brian McKenna is an old friend and ski partner of mine. In 2015 Brian was in a mountain biking accident at Deer Valley and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him with tetraplegia — paralysis from the neck down.
During rehabilitation, Brian met Dr. Jeffrey Rosenbluth, Medical Director of the Spinal Cord Injury Acute Rehabilitation program at the University of Utah Health. Rosenbluth and his team had been coordinating with the University’s best minds in engineering, research, business and medical to design innovative technology and provide essential programs to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.
One of the team’s core projects was the TetraSki, the world’s only independent alpine ski for people with complex disabilities. It was a perfect fit for Brian.
He started participating in TRAILS (Technology Recreation Access Independence Lifestyle and Sports), the premier adaptive program of the University’s Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital and the vehicle for testing and training the new adaptive technology.
With the TetraSki, Brian was back on the hill turning edge-to-edge by sipping and puffing into a tube, which manipulates actuators that then move the skis from a wedge to parallel, allowing skiers to rip across corduroy runs and glide through powder.
Brian’s testing and feedback of the TetraSki was instrumental in its continued refinement over the years. He not only believed in the vision of what was possible for those after traumatic injury or disease – he met and exceeded it.
Brian redefined what was possible.
Tragically, Brian died in 2018. So this inaugural ski race is dedicated in Brian’s memory, as it will forever be known as The Brian McKenna TetraSki Express.
More Information
For more information about how to attend the Brian McKenna TetraSki Express, purchase tickets, donate, and volunteer, visit tetraskiexpress.us. For more information about the TetraSki, visit tetradapt.us/tetraski-adaptive-skiing. More more about the Trails Adaptive Program, visit utrails.us.