It was 2003 when for the first time the doors of Skiablethe initiative born from the collaboration between the Sauze d’Oulx Project ski school e BMW Italy. Thanks to it, more than a thousand disabled people over the years have been able to access ski courses and alpine disciplines, often discovering a new passion. For the twentieth anniversary, a celebratory short film was born, created by Holden School with the collaboration of the journalist George Teruzzi.
SciAbile, the school in Sauze d’Oulx is twenty years old
The idea behind the project is offer experiences on the snow to disabled people for free. A way to access activities that can often require particularly demanding investments, which can however offer great opportunities to students. It can be a way to discover a new passionas in the case of Carlotta Viscontiwho has always been present at SciAbile and is now an athlete of the national Paralympic boccia.
Year after year, including recent pandemic-related breaks, the school has grown, reaching offer an ever more complete service. Today, both from the point of view of equipment and staff training, SciAbile offers specific courses on the slopes of Sauze d’Oulx for each type of disability, be it physical-motor, relational or sensory.
Clearly this occurred parallel to a concrete growth from the point of view of numbers. It is estimated that since the beginning of the activity back in 2003 more than 1500 boys and girls have taken advantage of the courses offered by SciAbile in Sauze d’Oulx. Only in the last few seasons is it estimated that there has been a membership of about 200 students and more. Almost seven times those 33 of the first year.
At the same time the masters also became more and more. Today the school boasts the presence of 26 instructors “of which 4 trained in the last two months” as he said Alberto Bergoinone of the founders of this project and currently director of the ski school.
The news of the 2022-23 season
The development of the SciAbile project in Sauze d’Oulx is also due to many realities that have known and loved the project over the yearsby providing their own contribution. Naturally starting from BMW Italia and its Specially programdedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility, has supported this initiative from the outset.
And so this year there will be many new features for the students who will take part in the SciAbile courses. Among these, the return of certainly stands out David Gros, who returns to teaching after several years of absence. This was due to a key assignment such as Head Coach for four terms of the Italian Paralympic National Teaman experience that adds further value to the Sauze d’Oulx project.
From an equipment point of view, a great addition is the tapis roulant Baby Rock, a 100-metre carpet lift right next to the school’s beginner slope. Suitable for transporting all auxiliary chairs, it allows you to manage the first approaches to the snow more gradually, initially avoiding the chairlift, which can be complex to deal with.
Finally, the brand new is born Chalet Sincero. A structure alongside the track that can accommodate teachers, parents and students. Three floors with spaces for equipment and clothing storage, relaxation areas, hot drink dispensers, kitchen and much more. All with a dedicated parking adjacent to the lift for easier access to the slopes.
Massimiliano di Silvestre, President and CEO of BMW Italia, commented on this anniversary as follows:
“Twenty years of SciAbile. Twenty years that have flown by. A project born from a meeting: the one between us and the School of Sauze d’Oulx. From the desire to do something new, reaching goals not even imagined at first.
Discovering what Zanardi calls residual talent, a concept that he has always summed up like this: when life forces you to face complex situations such as disability or an impairment, you can do it in two ways, forever regretting what you have lost or is not yours been given, or wondering what you can do with what you have left.
And those who have passed from the SciAbile school have made residual talent a philosophy of life. We are talking about thousands of boys and girls who have left their mark in the snow of these mountains and in the hearts of those who have known and guided them. Because this story is primarily made up of people and emotions and BMW Italia’s desire to blaze a trail, to give birth to a world.
Yes, because, in the end, the BMW SpecialMente corporate social responsibility project was born here, in these mountains. Here was born the awareness of being able to contribute to a dream and the determination to see it come true. Everything else came almost by itself, chasing the desire for life of those who have never stopped fighting and believing in themselves and in others”.
He was joined by Alberto Bergoin, co-founder of the project and director of the Sauze d’Oulx Project ski school:
“If we look back, it doesn’t seem possible that all this time has already passed and how many things have been done and improved. Especially in recent years Sciabile has really increased the number of participants, specific equipment, specialized ski and snowboard instructors, free transport and above all the hours of lessons and free and non-free alternative activities carried out in the field.
Suffice it to say that from the beginning of the season, 12 December 2022, to today we have already had almost 600 free hours for a total of 180 participants (considering the long stop period of the Christmas holidays and the weekends when the project is interrupted). There are already about twenty schools and associations that have spent their dedicated days and about fifteen are planning for the second part of the season.
But perhaps the figures that stand out the most are the 20 transports offered by the Green Cross from/to Turin and the belt and the 76 transports scheduled from December to April. There are 26 instructors actively involved in Sciabile, 4 of which trained in the last two months. Needless to say how positive and encouraging these numbers are to be able to continue in this direction.
The support and trust we have received from BMW Italia since 2003 is obviously very precious, which gives us peace of mind and guarantee every autumn to be able to plan a large part of the season. At the same time, the commitment of the school and of the other partners have allowed us to structure ourselves over the years and to reach a condition of extreme simplicity and very high quality.
The hope is that there may still be room for improvement that will allow no one to be excluded from the project (every year about 100 young people cannot be included) and that the now historic collaboration with BMW will last another 20 years giving real and Practice to other partners how consistency, tenacity, collaboration and long-term teamwork pay off by allowing you to achieve extraordinary things“.
SciAbile, a project that continues to grow on the slopes of Sauze d’Oulx
If you are interested in courses offered by SciAbile in Sauze d’Oulx we invite you to visit the official page of the association. Here you will find all the main information on the proposed activities and possible availability.