Mike Schlappi is a consummate athlete involved in Wheel Chair Tennis, Wheel Chair Basketball, Adaptive Snowmobiling, Hand cycling and many other adaptive sports and pastimes. He is Four-Time Paralympic Medalist in USA Men's Wheelchair Basketball, Two-Time World Champion in Wheelchair Basketball, Olympic Torch Bearer for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and Monaco Placard Bearer for Opening ceremonies. Honored by the State of Utah as one of its Top 50 Athletes of the Century. Mike is the only wheelchair basketball player in the USA to be a member of the past four Paralympic teams. Mike was honored by his peers as a member of the all-world wheelchair basketball team. Mike is also a tennis champion, winning the U.S. Open in the "A" Division in 1990 and 1994.Mike is an outstanding motivational speaker and talks to associations, public and private corporations throughout the USA.
MIKE SCHLAPPI: My name is Mike Schlappi and I grew up in the great state of Utah where the seasons change, and one of my favorite seasons of the year is winter. I don't really like snow being in a wheelchair. It's kind of a pain, but the one thing I like about winter besides basketball and Christmas and hot chocolate is I get an excuse to go to our family cabin and ride snow mobiles. So here behind me, the covers are kind of old, but under these old covers are some nice Yamaha snow mobiles. And when you're in a wheelchair, it's wonderful to be in a snow mobile because you feel free. You obviously get on the snow mobile and you strap your knees together and you hang on to the handle bars and you just push your thumb and that snow mobile will go virtually anywhere and you're not in your wheelchair and you just feel free. And it's actually a little bit of a good workout as well. But I just love being in nature. I love being in outdoors. There's nothing like flying over a little hill, on land and in a foot of powder and getting snow in your face and of course you have on your snowboard gear and your gloves and your helmet, your goggles and you look just like anybody else on a snow mobile. But I love snow mobiling and it's a great workout. Depending on you balance and your disability, I don't have a lot of good abdominal muscles and so I like just sitting on a snow mobile with the flat seat. The new ones nowadays are real like this and you're kind of like falling on your head, no stomach muscles, so I kind of like sitting more than crouch. And again, I put my knees together and I put like a strap around my knees and I wear boots and stick them under there, but--and then somebody has to carry my wheelchair back in the cabin or whatever. But once I'm on the snow mobile, I can pretty much go anywhere. A lot of snow mobiling is turning and leaning, and we don't have that ability, at least I don't, being a complete paraplegic. So I have to be a little bit experienced and careful where I go, because I just don't have the ability to lean and power the snow mobile. But for the most part, like being on a four-wheeler or riding a lawnmower, once you're on it and you push the gas, it'll pretty much go anywhere. So it's a great sport. When you're in a wheelchair and you go snow mobiling, you obviously have to go with somebody. You just need help at least with my type of disability. Getting the snow mobile off the trailer, lifting you on to the snow mobile, because you obviously
can't push your wheelchair out through two feet of snow. And then, because if you get stuck, in a snow mobile, the new ones have reverse and that's nice and that helps, but it's not uncommon at all for a snow mobile to get stuck once or twice a trip. And so your buddies come over and lift the snow mobile out of where it's stuck and you keep going. But you're definitely in the mountains, especially on a cold, winter day, you want to have on the right gear and you absolutely want to have a couple of strong buddies with you.
Member Comments