Sparkes, or Sparkey as he s affectionately known, was one of five skiers in town from Blind Veterans U.K., a charity that assists current and former British military personnel who ve become visually impaired through service, accident, illness or old age.
Working with the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program (WASP), the British charity has been organizing the trip to Canada for over three years. They also received free airfare from British Airways; lift passes from Whistler Blackcomb and accommodation from Lodging Ovations.
Typically, BVUK sends a group of about 50 visually impaired skiers to the Italian slopes each year, but this time they decided to bring the top five skiers to Whistler, taking advantage of the resort s world-class terrain and the expertise of WASP staff.