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National Ability Center’s Huntsman Cup proves ability has no bounds

Orlando Perez is one of about 40 skiers competing in the 35th annual Huntsman Cup Feb. 26 - 28 at Park City Mountain.
National Ability Center
Orlando Perez is one of about 40 skiers competing in the 35th annual Huntsman Cup Feb. 26 - 28 at Park City Mountain.

In a showcase of determination, the annual Huntsman’s Cup will feature some of the world’s aspiring adaptive athletes next week at Park City Mountain.

Now in its 35th year, the National Ability Center’s Huntsman Cup provides a platform for athletes with various physical abilities to prepare them for future Paralympic Games.

The three days of races will be held on Park City Mountain’s CB’s run - the site of the technical races during the 2002 Winter Olympics. One of the competitors this year is Orlando Perez, a U.S. Army veteran who was born and raised in Puerto Rico and became a paraplegic 30 years ago, when he was just was 19.

“And once I started adaptive sports through the VA system, the Veterans Administration System, I started discovering wheelchair basketball and basketball got me into some international competition with Puerto Rico national team. And at a VA event, they took me skiing once and I just fell in love with it.”

He raced his first Huntsman Cup in 2018 and with the help of the NAC, he was able to represent Puerto Rico for the first time in the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2022.

The Huntsman Cup is designed to help athletes, like Perez, refine their technical racing skills and reduce their racing points, which qualifies them for higher-level competition.

Perez will be competing in all four races – two giant slaloms and two slaloms, in his sit-ski. The GS races are Feb. 26 and Feb. 27 starting at 10 a.m. The two slaloms will run Feb. 28.

He’s grateful to the NAC for the opportunity.

“They want you to dream and they help you pursue it and that's the difference from the NAC and Bureau they're part of, I've been to because other places, they dare you to dream. But then how am I going to get it done? The equipment is so expensive. Our mono skis are about $4,000 or $5,000. Not everybody can afford that. The NAC has those, so you can come out there and try them out. Learn how to do it.”

The alpine race program is supported in part by fundraising. Tracy Meier, the NAC’s chief programming and education officer, says there are a few tickets left to next month’s Red White and Snow March 7 – 9. While the tickets aren’t cheap, she says the money goes to support the NAC’s mission and scholarships.

“There are other ways to support by volunteering and coming in helping us at the events or at our programs, but certainly understanding that money is well spent,” Meier said. “Our program fees only cover about 30% of our actual cost. And for individuals to be able to come out and participate in recreation and gain those benefits, it isn't cheap. The scholarship program provided over $600,000 in scholarships last year, and more and more people need our services.”

A link to the schedule and tickets for Red White and Snow is online at kpcw.org.