I met Chandler about 6 years ago at our home mountain in Washington, Alpental. My mom and I had seen this young guy shredding around the resort skiing fast and fluid on one leg. We introduced our selves and learned he had recently lost his leg in a boating accident. I also got to ski with Chandler a few times at Alta, and I grabbed his number. To this day I have him saved in my contacts as “Chandler Kills it.” He is the most enthusiastic guy and seriously throws down on his ski! I was so impressed with how fast he was, and how confident he jumped off everything. He likes getting air more then I do! Most of all though I was impressed with his attitude. Not only is he positive, but he is a rad, down to earth guy. One day when we were skiing together, he had been following me off the cliffs I was hitting and showing me other fun drops. I asked him if he has tried skiing switch. By the end of the day he was craving switch turns on his ski… Here is Chandler’s story.
Brief summary of the boating accident. How long ago did it happen?
Back in 2006, I lived near Lake Sammamish, a lake close to Seattle. I love to swim, and one Summer evening my dad and I decided to swim out to a buoy and back. I had swam out to that buoy many, many times as a kid–it was just something I grew up doing. That evening, we hadn’t noticed that our boat wasn’t parked at the dock. My sister had taken it out to go see a friend. As we were swimming back from the buoy, the boat was returning back to the dock. I was using swim fins, and I was just kicking under the surface of the water, not swimming at the surface, so I couldn’t be seen at all.
The boat traveled right over me, and I got rocked by the propeller, which shattered my pelvis, cut my foot, hand, and totally destroyed my right leg from the foot to the hip. I was rescued by my dad, canoed to shore (the boat had broken down) and eventually made it to the hospital. I lost about 70% of my blood, and barely survived the night. After a couple months, I was out of the hospital and eventually made a full recovery, having lost a leg in the proc
Me: I hear your on your mission? Tell us a little about that!
Chandler : Right now I’m serving as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Toronto, Canada. Typically, a missionary will serve for 2 years straight, with no vacations (and no skiing). I’ve been doing this for over a year. I love it. My assignment here is to work with people who speak Mandarin Chinese, so I’ve learned to speak the language, which has been a really good challenge. Being a missionary has given me an opportunity to put everything on hold and focus completely on others. Basically, I spend every day just sharing with people what I know to be true and invite them to learn about it. It’s been so, so good.
What were your first thoughts when you found out you would have to live with one leg?
When I really understood that I had lost my leg, I just thought “what things can I still do?” I was 16 years old, and I loved skiing, tennis and lacrosse. It seemed like my favorite things would be unavailable to me. It was tough for those first few days.
How has losing a leg made you who you are today?
I think that the biggest thing I’ve learned from the whole experience is the empowering attitude of focusing on the positive aspects of a situation. I remember being visited by a guy who had lost both legs above the knee, and he says to me, “hey man, you’ve still got a knee left, imagine how hard is to go down stairs without a good knee. ” He made me realize that I was lucky. Not only did I have a good knee, but I had a whole good leg left! That made me so happy. It’s now a habit of mine to look for the good in a bad situation, and it’s definitely become a big part of who I am.
What opportunities has having one leg created in your life? What have you learned about your self since then?
I think the biggest thing that has come come from losing a leg is an enjoyment of every single day. Every day, I think about how grateful I am grateful to be alive. I enjoy the things I do. I have had great opportunities to meet a lot of really cool people that I probably wouldn’t have met had I not experienced the things I have.
Who has been your biggest support? Is there a particular role model in life?
My biggest support has been my family and my faith. I grew up in a very supportive family, and they helped me get through so much. Miracles have happened in my life, and I know that God has looked out for me a lot. As I began to recover after the accident, one of my early goals was to ski again. I remembered seeing a one-legged skier at Blackcomb, just ripping under the chairlift on the first run of the day. I was a little kid when I saw him, but I remembered that image, and I thought “I can be that guy.” Whoever that guy was, his example gave me a realistic foundation for my goal to ski again.
What was it like to get back on skis? What role has skiing played in your life?
Getting back to skiing was so good. My doctors were worried that if I fell skiing, I could re-break my pelvis, so they banned me from skiing until the spring. In February, I had an appointment with one of my surgeons, and asked him if I could ski. He gave in and said okay, and that day I skipped the last part of school and went skiing at Alpental, my home mountain. On the first ride up the chair, I was nervous that I would fall getting off the chair. To my surprise, it went okay, no falling, and I made my way slowly down the run with no big problems. On that first afternoon, I was back to skiing advanced terrain, but I was hungry for more. Later that season I made it back to skiing powder and even a little slackcountry.
After a few seasons of skiing on one leg, skiing to me is a way to experience freedom, physically. I have a prosthetic leg, but I’m unable to really run around. When I ski I don’t use it. I love not feeling like I’m hindered in any way. Skiing is a way that I can feel the rush of going fast. I love to ski in trees and figure out fun lines. It makes me happy to ski creatively. Skiing on one leg is pretty much the same as two. The mechanics are the same. I love that I can still ski hard. Skiing is one of those things which I will try to continue do until the day I die. I don’t know how long my leg will last. My body might give out a little earlier than other people, but until it does, I’ll be skiing.
Any last words or advice for us?
As I write this, I haven’t skied for more than a year, simply because I am taking this two year break. Do I miss skiing? Oh yeah. However, I am happy right now, and I think it’s remarkable when we leave the things we love most, it’s possible to still find happiness. I am so grateful that I can still ski. I think some people just kill themselves thinking about a bunch of “what if” questions. Don’t focus on the “what if” things of the past, and focus on the present, certainly with the future in mind. I am thoroughly convinced that if we choose to be happy, we can be happy.
Chandler, My self and friends, skiing at Alta
Posted December 6th, 2011. 1 comment
This year I am going to be interviewing someone who inspires me every month. I’m calling this the Caterpillar Monologues because of the following story. Once upon a time there was a boy who had a pet caterpillar and eventually the caterpillar made it’s cocoon. One day a hole appeared in the cocoon as the butterfly was starting to break out. He watched as the butterfly struggled to break free. The boy became concerned as the butterfly seemed desperate and not making any progress so he decided he would help it. With his help the butterfly crawled out with weak shriveled up wings. The butterfly spent its whole life with shriveled wings and was never able to fly. In order for a butterfly to grow strong wings it needs to struggle to build and strengthen its wings.
In life sometimes we go through some difficult things, but through them we grow beautiful, strong wings so we can rise above them. As Elizabeth Ross wrote…
The most beautiful people we have known are those who have
known defeat,
known suffering,
known struggle,
known loss,
and have found their way out of the depths.
These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern…
Beautiful people do not just happen.
My first interview will be with my friend Chandler Balkman. Stay tuned to hear his story about surviving a boating accident that left him with one leg.
Posted December 4th, 2011. 1 comment
Jamie Pierre, Ski Ledgend, husband, and father of 2 was killed in an avalanche yeserday at Snowbird. I always saw Jamie skiing around snowbird, catching as many trams has he could with a big ass smile. There were many chair lift rides full of stories about Jamie hucking this cliff over here, or sending that line full throtle over there. Several people boasting about how they had witnessed one of this “sends.” The ski community will miss this legend. Our hats off to you crazy dude, you are such an inspiration to us all. Let your children hear the amazing stories of your life, and be so damn proud! RIP JP.
Posted November 14th, 2011. Add a comment
After a full year of winter, one huge season in Utah then straight to New Zealand, all I
longed for was some warmth. I found it in the desert of Southern Utah where I
spent 12 days sleeping out of a van. While exploring and camping in new areas
each night I spent my days watching sunsets, practicing yoga, reading and
running. The silence and vast beauty of the desert was divine and healing. It
was wonderful to be reunited with my dog Baker again. He cuddled every night
with me, I missed him soooo much! I went on some really cool hikes through the
slot canyons near Escalante. If you’ve never been there I highly recommend it! I also spent one weekend in Moab mountain biking with my whole family. (It has been a whole year and a half since we’ve all been together!) There was an event called “Outer Bikes” where we got to try all the new 2012 bikes. It was awesome. Now I’m back in the great Pacific North West until the snow starts to fall. Until then my feet will dance with freedom from the constricted confines of my ski boots.
Posted October 16th, 2011. Add a comment
My head was still buzzing from the night before, my last night in New Zealand. Our car made its’ way though the bright green valley floor dotted with hundreds of sheep and sharp mountains jutting through the hills. I was on my way to catch my flight but decided to sneak a bungee jump in for kicks. I just couldn’t leave NZ without doing the classic tourist move. I sent all my NZ friends final goodbye texts, thanking them for loving me like a sister. It’s so strange to think I’ll probably never see most of them ever again. Here is a summary of my incredible trip. Incredibly amazing, incredibly difficult, incredibly beautiful… but yes, it was defiantly incredible.
Arriving in New Zealand (as I do) with next to no plans and a contact or two shoved in a pocket, I eventually settled into the stunning town of Wanaka. I moved into a little house, right on the edge of town, with 4 random girls from all over the world. We all became best friends instantly and with time became like sisters, sisters of “The Doll House.” Even in tight quarters and scary financial times, to this day, I love each of them. I shared a loft with 2 of the girls, lived off noodles and toast, used a $10 filing cabinet as a dresser, and slept in my puffy down coat, a beanie and sleeping bag to stay warm. Nothing to worry, us crazy dolls made the very best of it!
With a very late start to the season, due to an extreme lack of snow, a job was hard to come by. By the end of the season I some how managed to get fired from two, but finally landed a great job. I can say with confidence I went from the worst job of my life, to the best one. For most my trip I reckoned I’d never be able to afford a flight out of the country. At times I had over drew my bank accounts, had to borrow money and had past hospital bills digging my hole deeper then I knew was possible.
A 6 ft storm kicked off the season and Treble Cone was going off! Opening day was an epic pow day with the highest amp level I’ve ever experienced. Early in the season I did a fun competition called the Triple Comp, where I won $500 to a local ski shop!
Thanks to some wonderful souls I was able to raise the money to compete in The World Heli Challenge. I placed 2nd on free style day and toped the Big Mountain day off with one of the scariest crashes of my ski career, in the midst of it all loosing a ski to never be found. The search for my ski quickly came to an end when 2 time champion of the event, Mr. Ted Davenport, shattered both legs. (send your love his way!)
I also spent some time volunteering with a program ran through Snowdrifta, teaching pre-schoolers how to ski. It was refreshing being around such joyful, free spirits.
In September I was telling my flat mates how I was confident in my decision NOT to compete in the North Face Free Ski Open. There I was, a couple days later, competing in the event. I ended up only .23 points away from the podium but was happy as a clam about placing 4th.
I spent my last day shredding in the sunshine at Snow Park with my favorite people and partied my face off till all hours of the night. Along with a gnarly hangover on my 2 day mission home, came a stone cold $300 excess baggage fee. If I wanted to catch my flight I had a window of 10 minutes. After a flurry of frantic shuffling and tears, I had to throw away 2 pairs of poles, all my outerwear, jeans, some thermals, sweat shirts and t shirts. (luckily I had already lost the pair of skis I brought so I didn’t have to toss those into the rubbish as well)
The whirlwind of events finally settled as my plane touched down in SLC. While it’s all over in a blink of an eye, I still can’t digest everything that happened in the 4 months I lived in that beautiful, little town. It was such a crazy ride packed full of adventure, surprises, beautifully genuine people, lots of tears and even more laughs. With the bad came the good, and with the terrible came the wonderful and as always I’m thankful for every second of it!
Posted October 15th, 2011. 1 comment
