Reno woman returns to competitive adaptive skiing with a grant from the High Fives Foundation
Ricci Kilgore is getting a new monoski and hopes to return to the US Paralympic Team for 2018
(Truckee, California, November 3, 2016) — Truckee’s High Fives Foundation is awarding Reno resident Ricci Kilgore an Empowerment Grant for a high-performance monoski to enable her to progress in adaptive skiing. Kilgore is in recovery from a life-altering injury she received in 2000.
An amazing athlete, Kilgore received a full scholarship to Idaho State University for track and field. Her sport was pole-vaulting. She was in a van with her team driving home from a track meet when the crew came across some black ice causing the van spin out of control. Kilgore was in the passenger seat with her seat belt on and the seat semi reclined.
The seat belt failed, and she was thrown 60 feet to oncoming traffic. The impact caused her to sustain a spinal cord injury, and she was told she would never walk or have children.
In March this year, Kilgore was invited to a US Olympic Committee adaptive race camp held at Alpine Meadows and hosted by the High Fives Foundation. Kilgore excelled in the camp and was invited to Loon Mountain to compete in the US Nationals for adaptive slalom and GS. She took second place.
“My goal is to inspire and ingrain hope to newly injured athletes,” Kilgore said. “And I want to get a spot on the 2018 US disabled alpine ski team.”
This grant from the High Fives Foundation is going to help her with this goal.
Her new monoski from Hands On Concepts is a high-performance ski that will provide her racing success and enjoyment on the slopes at Mount Rose.
“We were so glad to meet Ricci at the race camp last winter. She’s an extraordinary athlete,” said Roy Tuscany, executive director at the High Fives Foundation. “She’s capable of some great things as an athlete and as a person, and we’re glad we can be part of it.”
Kilgore was part of the US Alpine Skiing adaptive team in 2008 and 2010.
