Get Involved
DO GOOD - FEEL GOOD
Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra is successful because of many people and organizations.
Our Vision
We believe the freedom and exhilaration of outdoor challenges changes lives. No one should be left behind simply because of a disability!
Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra is a volunteer-based nonprofit dedicated to changing the lives of children and adults with disabilities and their families by:
DSES has adaptive equipment to fulfill everyone's winter and summer dreams: gliding down a snow-covered mountainside, cruising on a cycle or skimming over a placid lake.
Activities are customized to each individual; one-on-one or in a group. Our goal is for everyone to be active year round!
DSES makes the outdoors accessible and affordable!!
We Support A Tobacco Free Lifestyle
In The News
Coming Events Calendar
Check our Calendar here. Be sure to click on items in the Calendar for event details and contact information.
DSES Yard Sale - July 3, 2009
126 Twin Lakes Lane (just off Canyon Boulevard)
For more information call (760) 934-0791
- Set Up - Wednesday and Thursday, July 1 and 2 - all day long!
- Yard Sale - Friday, July 3 - 6:30 am--early bird special!
June Lake Triathlon - DSES Benefits
Saturday, July 11, 2009
with pre-event festivities on Friday, July 10.
DSES will benefit from this fund raising event. Volunteers are needed. Call or email Christine for more information 760 934-0791
» Read Triathlon Details Here
Sierra Cycle Challenge - July 25-27, 2009
Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra is excited to announce our 3rd Annual Sierra Cycle Challenge. July 25th - 27th 2009. This is a glorious 3-day supported ride through the Eastern Sierra. Gorgeous scenery, breathtaking climbs and descents, natural hot springs and massages at camp sites are just a few of the treats in store for you.
Participants have a fundraising goal for this awesome 3 day adventure of $1000.00 for individuals; $3500 for team of 4.. We are offering a prize for the top fundraiser!
» Read More
Ken Klein-Volunteer of the Year 2009
As our Chair of the Board of Directors and a committed volunteer all year long, Ken has given so much of himself to this program! We honor his dedication, support and strong back.
Ken has been skiing Mammoth Mountain for 20 years since being assigned to the Naval Dental Clinic in Long Beach. He retired from the Navy in 1993 and practiced Periodontics in Los Alamitos until fully retiring from dental practice in 2004. This coincided with his wife, Susie's, retirement from teaching 2nd grade, and they moved from Huntington Beach to Mammoth Lakes that summer.
He has been involved as a volunteer with disabled sports programs since 1994 and is a PSIA Level 1 Certified Adaptive (Bi-ski) instructor. In addition to being a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology, Ken has an MBA (Healthcare) from UC Irvine. He has a passion for outdoor activities and thoroughly enjoys biking, hiking, running and skiing in the beautiful Eastern Sierra.
Good Vibrations Newsletter
Check out the March 2009 Newsletter
Springtacular 2009 Was A Great Success
Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra (DSES) held its 4th annual Springtacular April 21-24. Forty-two participants with cognitive and developmental disabilities spent four full days at Mammoth Mountain skiing, snowboarding, and enjoying a host of other exciting activities. Most guests came from Mammoth and Bishop, but some traveled from as far away as Santa Monica.
» Read More - Pictures
Slide-A-Thon:
Amazing Day on Mammoth Mountain
Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra's 1st annual Slide-a-Thon on April 5, 2009 was a huge success, with 95 participants raising more than $34,000!
The bluebird day was gorgeous, and spirits were high, as teams and individuals filed through the check-in line wearing elaborate costumes. The "Hot Flashes" from the Mammoth Lakes Women's Club won best costume and received a magnum of champagne from Side Door Café.
» Read More - Check out the Video
WOW, What a Wounded Warrior Week!
February 2-6, 2009, Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra pulled out all the stops for this fifth Wounded Warrior Project event at Mammoth Mountain. There were so many "firsts" on this trip: private flights from San Diego, our first group from Camp Pendelton, our first female Wounded Warrior, a huge contingent of snowboarders, and a family of seven!
» Read More - Pictures
An Incredible Day with Anthony
by Kathy Copeland
Anthony called Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra numerous times to bug them for a reservation to go skiing. To date this proud adaptive organization had never said "no" to anybody…they'd always found a way to accommodate all the different disabilities out on the snow.
But Anthony was different….much different from their other students. He has a C2 quadriplegic spinal cord injury ~ similar to Christopher Reeve ~ and he uses a ventilator to breathe for him....to keep him alive....like Christopher did. » Read More - Pictures
Ariana Sandoval writes - "I have made new dreams and memories in Mammoth... YOU ALL ROCK!!!!"
Thank you for getting me up on the chair lift. All of the face plants made me feel so strong. I know that sounds strange but the more I fell the more I grew in confidence.
I did not die! I lived. I am not just living anymore. Once I came off the snow, I can say for certain that I am now truly ALIVE. I want to try so many things. I want to climb and ride again. I will drive again. I hope to see all of you every break I get. I look forward to all my winters, springs, falls and summers! I thank you all for your friendships. I feel that I have met people of greatness.
» Read More
We Have Jobs!
We are hiring for seasonal and full time positions. Please check out our JOBS page. Let your friends know.
Terry Smutney Memorial Fund
Terry Smutney 1956-2009
Terry Smutney, long-time resident of McGee Creek and prominent volunteer and lover of the Eastern Sierra, passed away on Monday, March 23, 2009 from lung cancer and other complications of Gulf War Syndrome. Terry was a good friend to many people in our community, and he will be sorely missed and fondly remembered.
Terry served as a medic in the Army for many years and in many battles. He was permanently affected by chemical exposure in Desert Storm. Though his body was broken, his enduring spirit persevered. Serving others was his primary occupation over these last years. He was a valued volunteer of Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra, the Sunrise Rotary Club and the Mobility Commission.
» Read More
Wounded Warrior Scholarship Fund
Your donations can help bring men and women who have been severely injured in Iraq to Mammoth to learn how to adapt to their newly 'altered' bodies. Help them remember there is STILL FUN TO BE HAD!
» Read More
Paralyzed Skier Returns to the Slopes
Jenny was sweet 16, with dreams of dancing at her upcoming high school prom. She loved her family's regular ski trips to Mammoth. Like many teenage girls she imagined her wedding day when she would be escorted down the aisle to her waiting prince. But all these dreams came crashing down after a ski accident left her partially paralyzed below the waist.
Fast forward five years. Jenny Priest is 21 and she's sitting in a café at Mammoth's ski lodge. Above her on the wall is a 1955 black and white Sports Illustrated cover photograph that featured the reigning champion and Olympic-hopeful skier Jill Kinmont.
It's a cruel irony that it's the 50th anniversary of Kinmont's career-ending accident when she too was paralyzed from a near-fatal ski accident at Alta, Utah.
» Read More
Dennis Hampton Scholarship Fund
Dennis Hampton was a long time resident of Mammoth Lakes. He arrived in the 1970's for a fun ski vacation and loved Mammoth and winter sports so much he never left.
In memory of Dennis, his family and friends have established a scholarship fund to sponsor children with disabilities so they can participate in outdoor sports here in the Eastern Sierra. Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra, a program that Dennis loved and supported, teaches children of all ages and all disabilities.
» Read More
