In the fall of 2022, while bed bound most days, my partner Betsey came up with ambitious idea:
Become the first adaptive athlete to traverse the Wind River mountains in Wyoming.
Only two years after her 5th spinal fusion surgery, Betsey lost 60% of her lung capacity from a severe covid infection. She needed a goal that would help her push through the debilitating symptoms that have persisted since her infection in Jan of ‘22, in addition to the pain and mobility issues from her spinal fusion.
Betsey planned out a unique route that she felt confident in despite her mobility issues. As far as we know, it would be the first attempt of this specifc route in addition to the first adaptive ski traverse.
With our blinders on, Betsey and I dedicated the next 7 months of our lives to training as much as possible and obtaining funding for the gear and supplies required for the attempt. Though Betsey’s post covid symptoms had not fully subsided, we decided with the help of her doctors that we’d give the traverse a shot.
Without the support of Big Agnes, Ski pulk, the Flyin’ Ryan foundation and our families, we would have never made it to the trailhead
Ultimately we we forced to turn around due to unsafe travel conditions. The snow stopped fully freezing over night for multiple days, even at 10,000 feet. However, we were able to cover about 40 miles and spent 12 nights camping in the Wind Rivers.
I’ve made a gallery of images below giving an overview of the trip. A detailed trip report is on the way as well.
We will be making a second attempt in April of ‘24. Though Betsey has not recovered any more since last year, we have still been training out butts off and we want to see our project through!
Check out the mini trip report / gallery below!
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Betsey hauling her sled on the way to Elkhart park trailhead. The summer trail is usually snowed in about 4 miles from the end of the plowed road. Elkhart park is the common approach for Gannet, the tallest mountain in Wyoming.
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Performing some trail maintenance, to make it easier for Betsey to haul her sled. Her fusion makes side-hilling difficult, so we thought this could make things easier. This was sort of a waste of energy however, as Betsey would haul her sled over worse terrain later on, without any help!
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The daily warm up dance
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Adam having some type 2 fun. We had to set up a hand line to get our sleds across an exposed section of trail. There was a deep river bed with cliffs below this.
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Betsey headed out across the handline
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Betsey cooking dinner camped by Island Lake
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Looking back towards Titcomb Basin
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Our ski tracks coming down an unnammed pass behind camp
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Betsey showing off her spinal fusion scar
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Adam skinning back to camp after a "rest" day (snowboarding)
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Tent bound due to 60pmh winds above camp
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Adam approaching the turn around point. We had started punching through the snow up to our waist with our ski on, and if we had continued up the next pass, we would have been commited to traveling in dangerous conditions until we reached our exit point.
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Feeling proud of our selves after we decided to turn around. The first rule of an expedition is come back, and the second is come back as friends, which helped reinforced that we were making the right decision.
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Crossing Seneca lake on our way out of the mountains
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Little Seneca Lake starting to melt out on our way back. Only 5 days prior we had crossed the middle of this lake. Melting water crossings was another reason we turned around- being able to walk straight across the lakes was essential to us being able to travel efficiently.
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Betsey having a great time side-hilling with her sled. This was one of the same spots we shoveled on our approach, hoping to avoid this exact situation with heavier sleds.
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Walking over sections of dirt on our exit
We need your help to make it to the trailhead!
Adaptive athletes like Betsey already face enormous financial barriers to access the outdoors, and this year our time and money was drained due to more circumstances out of our control; Betsey’s care suffered a massive fumble when the long covid clinic prepared to close this January. We went to over 60 doctors appointments since November as her docs tried to figure out a treatment plan for her before the clinic shut down. During that period, our van also died. Even after being physically prepared from four years of training, we will not be able to attempt what would be an achievable goal without outside support.
While it may not make sense to the average able-bodied person to use what little energy she has towards going outside, it’s exactly what has allowed Betsey to make it this far. It hasn’t been easy, but this connection to the Earth is what gives her purpose as well as helping her to build and preserve her strength, mobility and endurance.
There are a few ways to contribute.
It’s free and quick for you to spread the word about our project. Please tell everyone you know. If you are able to support us financially, you can click the button below, purchase some T-shirts or Stickers, or something from my print store
Funds that we receive will be used to purchase:
Required items:
Cheapest 4 season tent that has enough room to not be painful for Betsey ($550) Funded as of 3/1!!!
Dehydrated meals for dinners and fuel for our camp stoves (Approx $600) Funded as of 3/1!!
Gas money to the traihead and back (approx $120)
Snowmobile rental to access trailhead if we can’t find a volunteer to shuttle us the 20 miles up the groomed snowmobile road (Approx $250)
Dog sitter/boarding (Approx: $500)
Wanted Items:
Replace Betsey shell (approx $250)
Replace Betsey heavyweight down jacket (approx $300)
Replace worn base layers for Adam and Betsey (approx $300)
Replace Adam’s deteriorating splitboard (Approx $500)
Upgrade Adam’s camera gear (approx $1000 after selling current camera gear)
Our Route:
____ 2024 traverse Route
____ Alternate approach
__Forest McCarthy’s line
____ Route for one of our partners
- - - Random line from guy on Gaia
_____ Bail Route
We’ve poured countless hours into mapping a route that will be as adaptive friendly as possible for Betsey. We based ours off of Forest Mccarthy’s 1998 Wind’s Traverse GPX track and then used the slope angle shading tool in onX to find the least steep path through the mountains.
