Shannon Dallas takes in the view from the top

Coming into the Torino winter Paralympics, 2006 Australian winter team captain Shannon Dallas was ranked in the top 5 in the world in the downhill and super-G events. However, things didn’t go his way in Torino. The conditions for his races did not suit him at all. He crashed in the downhill and finished 9th in the super-G. While the team was in Torino, Dallas’ grandmother died. Dallas withdrew from the final event of his program, the slalom, having had a very difficult Games. Dallas competed as a sit skier. Sit skis are used by athletes with paraplegia, quadriplegia or double leg amputations. A sit ski is essentially a seat on top of a single ski, with suspension so that the skier doesn’t get pounded by every bump and rut. The skier uses their balance and the ‘outriggers’ to control the ski.