STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The morning temperature registered minus-6 making it the chilliest morning of the 2024-25 winter season.

But Somchai Lurak didn’t think twice about canceling the two-hour drive to Sun Valley’s Dollar Mountain with his wife Emma.

He never thought he would be able to ski again following an accident that claimed the lives of his three young daughters and left him an incomplete quadriplegic. And, since he had learned that he could carve turns on the slopes again with the help of Higher Ground’ adaptive ski program, he wasn’t about to miss his chance.

Emma Lurak changes her husband’s boots.

“Skiing not only gives me a sense of freedom but it’s helped me physically,” he said as his wife Emma helped him change into his winter boots. “My core, my upper body, is not strong so skiing and hand cycling help me regain my strength. And being able to be out here, to do what able-bodied people do, is--for me--the world.”

Somchai Lurak, whose family enjoys a blend of American and Thai cultures, grew up in Glenns Ferry and Hammett. His father has worked at the Mountain Home Air Force Base commissary for more than 30 years.

Somchai himself had carved out a happy life for himself, managing the Burger King in Mountain Home and doing a little mechanical and welding work, when a Fairfield man rear-ended his Dodge Neon car with his 6,000-pound 2500 Dodge pickup while Lurak was stopped at a temporary construction light on Highway 20 while driving home from Sun Valley.

The accident claimed the lives of his three daughters, ages 6, 5 and 3, and injured Emma, who at that time was his fiancé. And it left him with a C5-C7 spinal cord injury making him an incomplete quadriplegic.

Chaz Espinoza straps Somchai Lurak into the bi-ski.

Somchai told the court at the sentencing for the driver who hit him that his daughters were his reason to live. The 6-year-old, Emma said, was “Daddy’s little sidekick,” a girl who loved soccer, singing and dancing. The mischievous 5-year-old was excited about starting kindergarten the week following the accident. And the 3-year-old was a “sassy little chunky monkey” who loved ballet and freestyle dancing.

No one would have faulted Somchai for living out his days cursing the accident that took his happy family. But he, instead, chose to live with an upbeat, enthusiastic lust for life and adventure that many in his shoes might have found unfathomable.

Fearful that he would never be able to do the things he had loved before the accident, such as hiking, fishing and hunting, he was ecstatic to learn about Higher Ground and see pictures of people like himself skiing in mono-skis and bi-skis and mountain biking using hand cycles.

And he joined a sled hockey team for Challenged Athletes in Boise, becoming their goalie.

Somchai Lurak says he has always enjoyed athletics, having played football and baseball in high school and taken three years of boxing.

“It doesn’t bother me to have pucks coming at me,” he said. “I would love to make the Olympic sled hockey team.”

Higher Ground’s motto is “Adventure Support Belonging.” And its staff and volunteer instructors are out there nearly 365 days a year providing all that for people with physical challenges ranging from autism to amputees.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires ski resorts on U.S. Forest Service land to provide services to the disabled population. And, while some small ski areas like Pomerelle and Magic Mountain near Twin Falls don’t have such services, major ski resorts like Sun Valley Resort partner with adaptive organizations like Higher Ground to provide those services.

“We’re here daily so that, if someone comes in from out of town, we have an instructor to work with them,” said Jeff Burley, who has been in therapeutic recreation for years. “We often share progress notes with other ski resorts like Mt. Bachelor and Park City. We’re one of the best adaptive ski schools there is, with level 3 and 2 instructors. People looking for better instruction come here from Idaho Falls and Pocatello.”

Higher Ground instructor Mike Penrose helps Emma Lurak get used to moving around on skis.

Had Somchai been more disabled, he might have taken advantage of a $30,000 Tetra ski that individuals  operate by breathing through a tube. There are only 24 of those in the world and Burley is one of two instructors for Higher Ground who is certified to teach its use.

But, given the mobility that he does have, Somchai is using a bi-ski comprised of a fiberglass shell above two skis. He’s learning to ski it independently with the use of two hand-held outriggers that look like short ski poles wrapped around his forearms for balance and turning.

“He’s learning to walk so, possibly, we can get him out four-tracking eventually,” said Burley referring to a discipline by which person stands on two skis while using outriggers instead of poles for balance and turning.

Higher Ground instructors work with Somchai’s physical therapists to figure out how best to help him achieve optimal health and the best mobility he can get. Part of that involves including his wife Emma in lessons. She took her first ski lesson on Sunday.

“She wants to start learning to ski so we can be more active together,” said Somchai. “She’s been watching me from the bottom of the hill and was feeling like she was missing out. She tried skiing with her parents when she was 8 at Bogus Basin, and it didn’t go super well. She decided this is the year to give it another shot.”

“Seeing how much joy he’s having I want to do it, too,” said Emma.

Somchai snowboarded at Soldier Mountain, Pomerelle and Bogus Basin before his accident.

“So, I feel like a traitor for getting on skis,” he laughed. “But, honestly, I regret not skiing before my accident--I’m having so much fun now.”

Somchai started skiing with Higher Ground last winter; this was his third lesson with Higher Ground this winter.

Bundled up, he moved out into the bitter cold as blasts of snow from snow guns blew across the mountain. Transferring from his chair into the bi-ski, he settled in as instructor Chaz Espinoza strapped him in.

Somchai told Burley that he’s now walking an eighth of a mile: “When first started, I could barely do the sit-to-stand. Through this recreation program, I’m capable of standing to take steps. But I want more. I want to do more.”

Espinoza and Burley loaded Somchai onto the Quarter Dollar lift and, upon reaching the top, began making turns down Poverty Flats. Somchai made turns using the short outriggers wrapped around arms as Burley skied behind holding a tether.

He tipped over at one point, and Espinoza pulled him back up.

“Sometimes our participants want to joyride. There’s no joy ride here. You’ve got to work,” said Burley. “By working, they’re getting more function.”

Skiing is a motivator for those like Somchai, he added: “More important than the simple act of skiing is how skiing is a motivator. These guys realize they’ve got to go to the gym so they can ski better. You’ve got to go to the gym so you can get better.”

When the snow melts, Somchai is looking forward to returning to Higher Ground to go mountain biking using a handcycle. He took part in a mountain bike camp last summer and was thrilled to ride an adaptive trail in Adams Gulch.

He even took part in a 15-kilometer race at Galena Lodge climbing up and down intermediate/advanced Grinder Trail.

“I did the Galena Grinder last year and I want to do it again,” he said. “It was my first competition in mountain biking and it was a big eye opener to see realize how hard it is to keep up with the better guys, how hard the trails were. I was super proud of myself for just finishing.”

Somchai says his goal is to get to the strongest strength his body can get to.

“If it were not for this, I would be lost living in a chair,” he said. “And my progress would not be so good either, not as strong as it has been with being able to ski and cycle.”