News Release

West Los Angeles Veteran Hits the Slopes
Largest Disabled Ski Clinic for Military Veterans in the World

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     (SNOWMASS VILLAGE, COLORADO) April 2, 2008 -- Carlos Alvarez-Cortez, an Army veteran from West Los Angeles, Calif., is challenging not just the Rocky Mountains but himself at the 22nd National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, taking place March 31 - April 4 in Snowmass Village. Co-sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), this event is heralded as a world leader in teaching adaptive Alpine and Nordic skiing to veterans with disabilities, while also introducing them to a variety of other adaptive recreational activities and sports.

     For many newly-injured veterans, including those injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Clinic offers their first experience in winter sports and gives them the motivation to take their rehabilitation to a higher level. More than 65 active duty military personnel and veterans from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are participating in the Clinic this year. Most are still recovering in military treatment facilities.

     Alvarez-Cortez, 26, a combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, is among nearly 400 U.S. military veterans and active duty personnel from across the nation who are gathered in Snowmass Village to learn or improve upon their skills in winter sports. He receives care at the VA medical facility in Los Angeles, Calif.

     The Clinic promotes rehabilitation by teaching downhill and cross-country skiing to veterans with significant physical disabilities and visual impairments. It also offers participants an opportunity to take part in scuba diving, rock climbing, sled hockey, curling, snowmobiling, self-defense and other activities.

     For both Alpine and Nordic skiing, participants have the benefit, based on their level of ability and ski experience, to use a wide variety of specially adapted ski devices or methods. The Clinic is a leader in innovative and technologically advanced adaptive equipment that accommodates a variety of injuries. (Ski descriptions are posted on the Clinic's Web site: www.wintersportsclinic.va.gov. See Adaptive Skiing page.)

     "I have looked forward to being a part of the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic and meeting the other participants," said Alvarez-Cortez. "One of the many expectations I have for this event is to become more independent and enjoy a renewed social life."

     VA is a recognized leader in rehabilitative and recreational therapies. With 155 medical centers, VA operates more than 1,400 sites of care, including 872 ambulatory care and community-based outpatient clinics, 135 nursing homes, 45 residential rehabilitation treatment programs, 209 vet centers and 108 comprehensive home care programs. The DAV, a sponsor of the Clinic since 1991, is a non-profit, Congressionally chartered veterans service organization with a membership of more than one million wartime disabled veterans. Activities at the Winter Sports Clinic demonstrate that having a physical or visual disability need not be an obstacle to an active, rewarding life.