STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Shannon Oliver Kerrick grew up skiing Baldy. She even skied the daunting Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbuhel, Austria, while in college.

But, as she sailed down the black diamond Triumph groomer at Bogus Basin in February 2024, the mental health professional hit a bump in the flat light and crashed at high speed, crushing her T6 vertebrae, breaking both arms and suffering traumatic brain injury.

When she regained consciousness, her eyes still swollen shut, she had no movement below the waist. After a month in St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, she transferred to Craig Rehabilitation in Denver where they used locomotor training, having her walk on a treadmill with an apparatus holding her up to keep the brain communicating walk signals to her legs.

Saturday night she stood before Higher Ground supporters at the 3rd annual Muffy Davis Cup, recounting the story that eventually bought her back to Sun Valley, to Higher Ground and to Baldy where she skied first on Lower River Run, then on Broadway.

“The first thing I thought of after my accident was Muffy Davis, and I knew there was hope,” the Wood River High School alum said. “And I knew about Higher Ground because our son is on the autism spectrum and we had brought him here since ski school wasn’t a good fit for him. When I returned to the mountain with my daughter Clare, I had one of those days where I felt happiness I hadn’t felt since my accident. Being able to ski with Higher Ground is candy to people like me.”

Seven teams of six skiers each fanned across a sun-kissed Quarter Dollar Saturday and Sunday as they took part in the Higher Ground fundraiser, which offers participants a chance to learn what it’s like to ski in a monoski, as an amputee or blind skier or on a ski bike.

They even had the chance to try a $30,000 sit ski that operates with a joy stick or by blowing into a tube.

“I always wanted to put on an experiential ski event so people can see what it’s like to ski differently,” said Muffy Davis, who was paralyzed in a ski training accident 36 years ago in 1989 and went on to win multiple medals in two Winter Paralympics and one Summer Paralympics. “These people have the amazing opportunity to try equipment that costs thousands of dollars. And they gain an understanding of what a therapeutic recreational program like Higher Ground is all about.”

Each team was led by a celebrity skier, with Muffy Davis leading the Devil Dogs, who raised the most money for the fundraiser, and Shannon Kerrick leading the Spud Racers.

Among the celebrity skiers was Zach Sherman, a triple amputee who lost both legs above the knee and one arm in a motorcycle accident in Pennsylvania 15 years ago.

A snowboarder before his accident, Sherman found few adaptive programs in Pennsylvania. Some were restricted to veterans since they received federal funding. He moved to Boise three years ago, hoping for better snowboarding opportunities.

There, he outfitted a snowboard with special bindings that he can click his metal prosthetics into. And he adapted an outrigger that an amputee would use by taking off the short ski at the end of it and replacing it with a ball that allows him more maneuverability.

He tried the adaptive programs at Bogus Basin and Brundage, then ended up with Higher Ground at Sun Valley.

“I love the ski program and the mountain. It’s a lot more difficult for me to snowboard now because I don’t have knees to bend, so I usually stick to groomers. But I absolutely love it as it’s one of the things I can do since my accident. Snowboarding is a big part of my life today—I do three months of snowboarding therapy to hold me over the rest of the year.”

Spencer Cordovano tried snowboarding as a visually impaired person, his goggles blacked out so he could see a little above him and at his feet. His guide Toby Arnett skied behind, talking him around the slalom gates with phrases like “Almost there,” Turn,” “Across the hill.”

“It’s hard on a snowboard because you have one point of contact,” Cordovano said. “You don’t know what up and down is. I had no idea whether I was going fast or slow.”

“Being his guide was humbling because I was responsible for his safety,” added Arnett. “I was real nervous!”

Higher Ground Executive Cole Petrie said the Muffy Davis Cup takes Higher Ground back to its roots, noting that Muffy Davis learned to ski from Marc Mast, the monoski instructor who started Sun Valley Adaptive Sports, which eventually became Higher Ground.

“This is a way to get community members involved, a fun way for people to see how difficult it is to master the skills to ski in a monoski or when vision impaired,” he said. “We even have a number of volunteers participating who ski with visually impaired people but have never skied as visually impaired so this gives them a chance to see what it’s like. We make what seems impossible possible.”

Walter Elias, who lost his sight due to brain tumor when he was 2 and now works for his father’s construction company, was the celebrity skier for the Denim Destroyers, the team that won the Speed cups.

“I love skiing with Higher Ground. I love the community it provides,” he said.

Individuals and teams won Muffy Davis Cups for a variety of feats:

Fastest Visually impaired Team--Visually impaired skier Tony Price with guide John French.

Fastest Three Tracker: Travis Zerba

Fastest Monoskier: Colter Brehmer

Fastest Ski Biker: Sarah Burke

Fastest Celebrity: Muffy Davis

Best Crash: a tie between monoskiers Amber Kennedy and Daniella Stokes

Best Costumes: The Denim Destroyers made up of Banks Gilbert, Colter Brehmer, Sarah Verst, Reed Burdge, Emma Cullen and Walter Elias.

Turtle Award for the Longest Time on the Course: Spener Cordovano and Toby Arnett

Fastest Team: Denim Destroyers

Meanwhile, the Devil Dogs won the Muffy Davis Cup trophy for raising the most money for the third year in a row--$25,000. The team is made up of Tony Price, John French, Mike Penrose, Paul Willis and Jim Wood.

“I bleed Higher Ground!” said John French.

DID YOU KNOW?

More than 400 volunteers assist Higher Ground with its winter and summer programs, according to Greg Ernst, the organization’s volunteer manager. They put in 6,000 volunteer hours this past year—a thousand more than last year.

Higher Ground is trying to raise $9,500 to buy a Joelette, which resembles a high-tech one-passenger rickshaw on one wheel to take youngsters for hikes along trails.