Adapting Through Adversity

Setting Sights on the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games

Mackinzie Dickman (Kinzie Houston, ’16) says there’s nothing like the thrill of sailing down a ski slope, feeling free as she fearlessly navigates through challenging courses at 30-60 mph.

“Going down the mountain, digging into the snow, I feel connected, in control,” Kinzie said.

Although the Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) public health graduate from Ohio had been skiing, snowboarding and wakeboarding with her family for fun since she was 2 years old, injuries from a 2017 car crash resulted in Kinzie becoming a wheelchair user by 2019. That drastic mobility change steered the tenacious 30-year-old athlete onto an entirely different, yet exciting course. Kinzie is now training to ski competitively, seated on a monoski with its single central ski, while setting her sights on the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Italy.

Kinzie credits her public health degree from EKU with aiding in her recovery and moving forward with her new life-changing goal. “I realized that if I didn’t address my trauma, I risked a downward spiral,” she said. “Luckily enough, I knew how to use resources from my education background and pull myself out of that hole.” After eight months of intensive therapies, adjusting to her new capabilities and moving to West Virginia, Kinzie contacted Challenged Athletes of West Virginia in the winter of 2020. She felt ready to return to Snowshoe Mountain, where she’d snowboarded regularly while attending EKU.

During her first lesson, Kinzie strapped herself into a rented monoski with its chair-like seat, held outriggers (adaptive ski poles) in both hands to assist with balance and initiating turns, then maneuvered through the beginner slope with ease, exclaiming, “This sport is great. I love it!”

However, her second lesson on initiating turns didn’t go as well. “I fell a lot. I cried a lot,” she said. But Kinzie persevered. By the fifth attempt, “something clicked.” And by the ninth try, Kinzie went from the “green” beginner level to tackling “black diamond” (steep, more advanced) to “terrain park,” which includes jumps and rails—all in a single weekend.

“Some think you can’t jump on a sit ski, but I took charge and just did it,” Kinzie said.

This was a game changer that meant taking risks, tackling new territory for herself and paving the way as a role model for others in the disabled community and athletes who are competing in adaptive sports.

Kinzie is already setting records. In February 2022, after successfully campaigning to add an adaptive category to the 1.5-mile Cupp Run Challenge downhill race, she was the first in that category to complete Snowshoe’s longest run.

In December 2022, Kinzie received a scholarship to attend race camp in Colorado. She was told that with the proper equipment and opportunities, she had the qualities to be a competitive racer. “They mentioned my coachability, positive attitude, personality—smiley, bubbly, happy—and that I’m passionate about skiing,” she said.

Kinzie’s rapidly developing skills caught the attention of the head coach at the National Sports Center for the Disabled, who invited her to complete the extremely demanding six-month winter training in Winter Park, Colorado. Afterward, she said, “My body was sore, I was tired, and I mentally needed a break.”

But Kinzie stays focused on her training goals. During the offseason, she lifts weights and rides an adaptive mountain bike “which has a similar turn motion” to her monoski. She also pays close attention to her diet to help build muscle.

“Going down a mountain with 40-plus gates in one and a half minutes requires a lot of cardio to keep it up,” Kinzie said.

Competitive adaptive skiing is an expensive sport, costing $10,000-$20,000 a year, depending on the number of races entered, equipment bought and repaired, coaching and travel.

Career-wise, Kinzie and her husband, Ted, both work at Snowshoe, with Kinzie instructing other adaptive skiers. She’s received grants and launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover her costs. Whenever possible, she camps in a converted van while training away from home.

While a student fitness instructor at EKU’s Recreation Center and working with different abilities, Kinzie advocated for disability rights, access and opportunities. Seeing those issues now from a personal viewpoint, Kinzie is on a mission.

“I want to break down barriers to get more sponsorships for adaptive sports and create steppingstones for the next generation of adaptive athletes,” she said.

Kinzie has also set goals for herself to test the limits of what she’s capable of accomplishing. “Every day in training, I try new things. I don’t ever want to stay in the same spot and become stagnant,” she said.

Family and friends cheer Kinzie on, and she also receives messages from former EKU professors who follow her progress and offer encouragement. “EKU is a family,” she said.

While she’s had to learn to “do life differently,” Kinzie says, “Everyone has adversity in their lives. You just have to learn how to overcome those challenges in your own way.”