A love of nature and innate compassion inspired Vermont woman to create adaptive snow sports programs
Gwen Allard was a much beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Her life’s work was advocating and empowering the disabled community. She was a revolutionary in her field, and her vision was a spark that ignited commitment and momentum in the hearts of those who met and worked with her. She was contagious. Gwen’s deep love of nature, combined with her innate compassion for others, fueled her pioneering efforts in creating adaptive snow sports programs throughout the United States. Her energy and lifelong commitment to helping others painted the mountains with hope, making the thrill of skiing accessible to all. Hundreds of people called Gwen “Mom.” Her hugs were a universe of comfort; her spiritual depth and empathy as vast as the sky. Gwen used to say, “Church is sitting on a ski lift on a sunny winter's days riding up the mountain listening to birds and seeing snow crystals sparkling on pine tree limbs!” Off the snow, Gwen loved gatherings at a family lodge at Hunt Lake in the Adirondacks, where laughter and camaraderie filled the air for decades! She was a gardener, a baker, a lover of animals and the outdoors. Of her many accomplishments, Gwen was president of the Junior League of Schenectady, received degrees from the University of Delaware and Russell Sage College, and contributed her expertise to the Wounded Warrior Project and the Special Olympics. Her pioneering adaptive sports curriculums are the foundation of adaptive programs across the country and led to her induction into the Disabled Sports USA Hall of Fame in 2001. Gwen’s determination to create ever more innovative approaches to enable any disabled person to access the sport of skiing dovetailed with her tenacious capacity to fundraise. In 1983 Gwen arrived at Ski Windham in the Catskills and formed the Adaptive Sports Foundation, a 501c3 corporation which became one of the largest programs of its type in the country. As the scope and reach of ASF programs expanded, so did its facilities. An 8,500-sq. ft. adaptive center is named in her honor, complete with its own chairlift. Charlie Wood and the Paul Newman Foundation contacted Gwen and challenged her to transform what had once been a small Adirondack ski area into a modern facility, welcoming seriously disabled children to enjoy winter activities, with a focus on skiing. Ski lifts, snowmaking and grooming equipment were secured, with ski patrol, ski instructors and…
A love of nature and innate compassion inspired Vermont woman to create adaptive snow sports programs
Gwen Allard was a much beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Her life’s work was advocating and empowering the disabled community. She was a revolutionary in her field, and her vision was a spark that ignited commitment and momentum in the hearts of those who met and worked with her. She was contagious. Gwen’s deep love of nature, combined with her innate compassion for others, fueled her pioneering efforts in creating adaptive snow sports programs throughout the United States. Her energy and lifelong commitment to helping others painted the mountains with hope, making the thrill of skiing accessible to all. Hundreds of people called Gwen “Mom.” Her hugs were a universe of comfort; her spiritual depth and empathy as vast as the sky. Gwen used to say, “Church is sitting on a ski lift on a sunny winter's days riding up the mountain listening to birds and seeing snow crystals sparkling on pine tree limbs!” Off the snow, Gwen loved gatherings at a family lodge at Hunt Lake in the Adirondacks, where laughter and camaraderie filled the air for decades! She was a gardener, a baker, a lover of animals and the outdoors. Of her many accomplishments, Gwen was president of the Junior League of Schenectady, received degrees from the University of Delaware and Russell Sage College, and contributed her expertise to the Wounded Warrior Project and the Special Olympics. Her pioneering adaptive sports curriculums are the foundation of adaptive programs across the country and led to her induction into the Disabled Sports USA Hall of Fame in 2001. Gwen’s determination to create ever more innovative approaches to enable any disabled person to access the sport of skiing dovetailed with her tenacious capacity to fundraise. In 1983 Gwen arrived at Ski Windham in the Catskills and formed the Adaptive Sports Foundation, a 501c3 corporation which became one of the largest programs of its type in the country. As the scope and reach of ASF programs expanded, so did its facilities. An 8,500-sq. ft. adaptive center is named in her honor, complete with its own chairlift. Charlie Wood and the Paul Newman Foundation contacted Gwen and challenged her to transform what had once been a small Adirondack ski area into a modern facility, welcoming seriously disabled children to enjoy winter activities, with a focus on skiing. Ski lifts, snowmaking and grooming equipment were secured, with ski patrol, ski instructors and…